n 


JEW'ISH  STUDIES 

Edited  by  A.  Lukyn  Williams,  L*  D. 

A    SHORT   HISTORY 

OF  THE 

JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 


BY   THE   REV. 

H.   P.   STOKES,   LL.D.,  Litt.D.,  F.S.A. 

HON.   FELLOW  OF  CORPUS   CHRISTI   COLLEGE,   CAMBRIDGE;    HON.  CANON  OF  ELY 


WITH  8  ILLUSTRATIONS\ 


LONDON 
CENTRAL     BOARD     OF    MISSIONS 

AND 

SOCIETY    FOR     PROMOTING 

CHRISTIAN     KNOWLEDGE 

NEW  YORK:    THE  MACMILLAN  CO, 

1921 


SRLF 
URL 


V5 

135 
B5SZ 


PREFACE  BY  THE  EDITOR 

No  modern  nation  has  taken  more  interest  in  the  Jews 
than  the  English-speaking  peoples,  none  has  tried  to  deal 
more  fairly  with  them.  Yet  it  cannot  be  pretended  that 
we  English  know  much  about  their  post-Biblical  history, 
practices,  and  beliefs,  much  less  that  we  have  studied 
these  in  relation  to  Christianity  past  and  present. 

The  aim  of  this  series  is  to  do  something  towards 
supplying  this  want.  It  will  endeavour  to  describe  Jews 
as  they  have  been  and  as  they  are,  to  state  and  explain 
the  efforts  of  Christians  in  past  centuries  to  win  them, 
and  the  methods  used,  and  both  to  set  out  and  to  weigh 
their  chief  doctrines. 

Thus  gradually  but  surely  a  collection  of  handbooks 
will  be  formed,  which  Jews  and  Christians  alike  may  use, 
and  each  learn  to  understand  better  the  religion  of  the 
other.  Naturally  the  books  will  be  Christian,  and  because 
they  are  Christian  will  try  both  to  represent  Christianity 
in  its  proper  spirit,  and  to  exhibit  it  as  the  supreme 
truth. 

A.  LUKYN  WILLIAMS. 


m 


CONTENTS 

I.— THE   PRE-EXPULSION   PERIOD 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I,    Historical  Sketch  of  the  Jews  in  England  before 

THE  Expulsion  ...           ...           ...           ...           ...  3 

II.    The  Relationship  of  the  Jews   to  the  King  and 

TrlG    oXAXC                •••                  ••>                 •••                  it*                 ••■  ^ 

III.  The  Business  Life  of  the  Jews      ...           ...          ..,  13 

IV.  The  Home  Life  of  the  Jews           ...           ...           ...  18 

V.    Religious  Life  of  the  Jews             ...           ...           ...  26 

VI.  The  Domus  conversorum            ...          ...          ...  36 

VII.    The  Expulsion  of  the  Jews  {1290)  ...           ...           ...  40 

II.— THE    MIDDLE    PERIOD    OF 
ANGLO-JEWISH    HISTORY 

I.    The  domus  CONVErsorum  after  Expulsion         ...  49 

II.    Jews  in  England  during  the  Middle  Period?        ...  54 

Appendix  A.    The  Jew  in  English  Literature  (I) ...  59 

III.— THE  RETURN  AND  THE  RE-SETTLE- 
MENT OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

I.    Cromwell  and  the  Jews     ...           ...           ...           ...  67 

II.    After  the  Restoration       ...           ...           ...           ...  73 

III.  Under  the  Hanoverians      ...           ...           ...           ...  78 

IV.  Emancipation           ...           ...           ...           ...           ...  84 

V.    Synagogue  Visitors             ..i          ...          ...          ...  91 

VI.    Conversions             ...           ...           ...           ...           ...  97 

VII.  Zionism  and  the  Mission  of  Israel              ...           ...  104 

Appendix  B.     The  Jews  in  English  Literature  (II)  loS 

INDEX         ...           ...           ...           ...           ...           ...  115 

V 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

1.  Menasseii  Ben  Israel  ...  ...  Frontispiece 

From  a  Portrait  by  Rembrandt. 

2.  Aaron  of  Colchester  ...  ...  ...  ...      i? 

Frar^i  the  Ftrest  Roll,  Essex  (^Record  Office"). 

3.  DoMus  Conversorum  at  Oxford  ...  ...    facing     37 

From  Skelton's  "  Oxonia  Antigua." 

4     Church  for  Converted  Jews...  ...  ...  t..     48 

From  a  MS.  of  Matthew  Paris,  in  the  Library  of  Corpus  Chrisii 
College,  Cambridge. 

5.  Church  FOR  Converted  Jews...  ...  ...  ...      53 

From  a  MS.  of  Matthew  Paris. 

6.  Facsimile   of  the  Jews'    First   Petition    to   Oliver 

Cromwell    ...  ...  ...  ...  ...    facing     69 

7.  Lord  George  Gordon...  ...  ...  ...        „         82 

From  a  Water-colour  Drawing  by  Polack. 

8.  The  Rev.  Lewis  Way... 

By  kind pertnission.    From  Mr.  Gidney's  "Histojy  ofL.J.S." 


The/ewisA  Historical  Society  of  England  z.xc  thanked  for  kind  permission 
to  use  Nos.  4  and  5  of  the  above  Illustrations. 


VI 


I 

THE  PRE-EXPULSION  PERIOD 


HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS 
IN   ENGLAND 


CHAPTER  I 

HISTORICAL   SKETCH   OF   THE  JEWS    IN   ENGLAND 
BEFORE   THE   EXPULSION 

The  Jews  came  into  England  with  the  Conqueror. 
There  are,  indeed,  rumours  of  their  presence  here 
now  and  then  in  Anglo-Saxon  times ;  but  the 
evidence  of  this  is  too  vague  to  be  accepted. 
William  I.  brought  them  from  Rouen,  and  settled 
them  in  various  towns  in  his  new  dominion  ;  and 
during  the  reign  of  the  first  Norman  king  they 
gradually  prospered.  They  were  still  more  favoured 
by  William  II.  Referring  to  a  controversy  between 
some  clerics  and  some  Israelites,  the  Red  King  is 
said  to  have  declared,  with  a  characteristic  oath  : 
"  by  the  face  of  St.  Luke,"  that  "  if  the  Jews  over- 
came the  Christians,  he  himself  would  become  one 
of  their  sect." 

In  Henry  I.'s  time,  in  certain  Treasury  records, 
we  first  meet  with  official  allusions  to  Jewish  financial 

3 


4      HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS   IN  ENGLAND 

transactions ;  while,  in  the  reign  of  King  Stephen, 
the  earhest  of  those  miserable  "  blood-accusations  " 
is  chronicled ;  the  so-called  Martyr,  little  William  of 
Norwich,  having,  according  to  report,  been  tortured 
and  murdered  by  Israelites  of  that  city  on  Good  Friday 
of  the  year  1144. 

The  long  reign  of  Henry  II.  was  favourable  to  the 
Jews,  who  spread  throughout  England,  and  were 
engaged  increasingly  in  money  dealings ;  some  of 
their  leaders — such  as  Aaron  of  Lincoln — having  exten- 
sive and  remunerative  dealings  in  various  parts  of  the 
land.  The  Exchequer  authorities  did  not  fail,  on 
behalf  of  the  King  (whose  relationship  to  the  Jews 
we  shall  consider  in  the  next  chapter),  to  extract 
heavy  tolls  or  "  tallages  "  from  the  financiers.  On  the 
death  of  Aaron  of  Lincoln,  for  instance,  his  possessions 
were  seized,  and  a  special  administration  thereof  was 
formed.  On  the  other  hand,  facilities  of  travel  were 
accorded  to  the  Jews,  and  distinguished  visitors  from 
the  Continent,  such  as  Abraham  Ibn  Ezra,  were 
welcomed.  Permission  was  granted  to  open  burial- 
grounds  in  various  provincial  towns. 

The  accession  of  Richard  I.,  however,  was  a  land- 
mark in  the  troubles  of  Israel.  At  the  coronation 
of  that  king  on  September  3,  1189,  the  Jews  were 
indeed  forbidden  to  enter  Westminster  Abbey,  but, 
led  by  loyalty  and  perhaps  by  curiosity,  a  number  of 
them  gathered  at  the  church  doors.  Unfortunately, 
their  presence  was  the  occasion  of  a  riot  among  the 
assembled  crowds,  and  plunder  and  massacre  followed. 
The  persecuting  spirit  spread  throughout  the  country, 
a  terrible  slaughter,  for  instance,  occurring  in  the  city 
of  York,  where  the  Jewish  "  usances  and  quittances 


BEFORE   THE   EXPULSION  5 

and  horseleech  papers  were  summarily  set  fire  to," 
as  Thomas  Carlyle  puts  it,  in  Past  and  PresenU 
The  King  and  the  royal  officials  were  greatly  annoyed, 
both  at  the  rioting  and  at  the  destruction  of  Jewish 
property  and  bonds.  Accordingly  an  elaborate  system 
of  financial  organisation  was  instituted,  which  will 
be  described  in  a  subsequent  section.  In  connexion 
with  the  King's  ransom  a  few  years  later  on,  the 
Israelites  were  compelled  to  make  a  notable  contri- 
bution. 

When  King  John  succeeded  his  brother  Richard, 
partly  from  policy  and  partly  from  his  general 
opposition  to  ecclesiastical  and  other  authorities,  that 
turbulent  monarch  favoured  the  Jews,  granting  them 
certain  charters.  Yet  he  did  not  hesitate  to  mulct 
them  with  great  severity  ;  while,  during  the  troubles 
with  the  Barons,  the  Jewries  suffered  heavily,  many 
of  them  being  sacked  and  plundered.  One  of  the 
clauses  of  Magna  Carta  was  specially  directed  against 
the  Jews  ;  "  suspending  the  accruer  of  interest  during 
the  minority  of  an  heir." 

While  Henry  III.  was  a  youth,  there  was  a  lull  in 
the  affairs  of  the  people  with  whom  we  are  dealing ; 
and,  although  they  were  not  infrequently  tallaged, 
they  were  for  some  years  in  comparative  prosperity. 
The  King  was  interested  in  them  from  a  religious 
point  of  view,  and  in  1232  he  established  the  Domus 
Conversorum  for  the  reception  of  some  who  embraced 
Christianity.  The  influx  of  Poitevins  and  others 
after  the  royal  marriage  and  the  growing  disputes 
with  the  Barons,  however,  led  to  national  disturbances 
and  civil  wars,  during  which  the  Jews  suffered  greatly, 
being   attacked  and  plundered  in   London   and   in 


6       HISTORY   OF   THE   JEWS    IN   ENGLAND 

various  provincial  Jewries.  The  Barons  were  specially 
severe  upon  them ;  the  people  were  stirred  against 
them  by  the  reported  "  Martyrdom  "  of  little  Hugh 
of  Lincoln  ;  while  the  King,  in  his  financial  difficulties, 
was  continually  tallaging  the  unfortunate  Jews, 
At  one  time  he  assembled  their  representatives  in  a 
Jewish  "  Parliament "  at  Worcester  (1241),  for  the 
purpose  of  enforcing  a  self-taxation  ;  at  other  times 
he  "  sold  "  them  to  his  uncle,  Richard  of  Cornwall,  or 
to  his  sons,  Prince  Edward  and  Edmund  of  Lancaster, 
receiving  a  lump  sum  of  money  and  granting  per- 
mission to  levy  taxes  on  the  unfortunate  financiers. 
Their  leaders,  notably  Elias  "  the  Chief  Presbyter," 
made  spirited  and  pitiful  appeals  against  these 
excessive  tallages ;  but  the  plundering  continued 
publicly  and  privately.  To  the  Queen,  for  instance, 
certain  individual  rich  Jews  were  mortgaged,  and 
particular  Jewries  assigned.  And  so  the  long  and 
ignoble  reign  of  Henry  HI.  dragged  on  ;  occasions 
of  all  kinds  being  found  for  extracting  money  from 
the  Israelites ;  the  crusading  enterprise  of  Prince 
Edward,  for  example,  being  an  excuse  for  a  heavy 
taxation. 

During  the  absence  of  the  Prince,  Henry  III. 
passed  away  in  the  year  1272  ;  but  the  accession  of 
Edward  L,  in  spite  of  the  generally  enlightened 
character  of  that  monarch,  brought  no  alleviation  to 
the  Jews,  while  certain  enactments  which  were  made 
limiting  their  money-lending  powers,  lessened  also 
their  financial  possibilities.  In  spite  of  Professor 
Graetz  (History,  III.  xvii.),  Eleanor  of  Castile,  the 
new  Queen,  was  as  deadly  an  enemy  of  Israel  as 
the  Dowager  Eleanor  of  Provence.      "  The   Statute 


BEFORE   THE   EXPULSION  7 

of  Judaism,"  which  was  passed  in  1274,  altered 
the  standpoint  of  the  Jews ;  fresh  proclamations 
about  the  wearing  of  badges  added  to  their  griev- 
ances ;  numerous  executions  of  Jews  on  charges 
of  coin-clipping,  and  many  cases  of  fines  and  im- 
prisonment, alarmed  the  communities  ;  while  a  growing 
dislike  on  the  part  of  the  populace  rendered  the 
condition  of  Israelites  very  insecure  and  distressful. 
At  length,  in  1290,  for  reasons  which  will  be  discussed 
in  a  subsequent  section,  an  order  was  issued  for  the 
expulsion  of  all  Jews  from  the  land,  and  in  the  autumn 
of  that  year  a  compulsory  exodus  took  place,  and  so, 
after  two  centuries  and  more,  it  became  illegal  for 
any  unconverted  Israelite  to  sojourn  in  England ; 
nor  was  this  rule  relaxed  for  more  than  three  centuries 
afterwards.  Not  from  the  days  of  Edward  I.  till 
Cromwell's  time  were  Jews  knowingly  permitted  to 
reside  in  this  realm.  Marlowe's  Barabbas  and  Shake- 
speare's Shylock  were  probably  drawn  from  hearsay. 
Such  is  a  brief  historical  sketch  of  the  Jews  in 
England  from  the  Conquest  to  the  Expulsion.  We 
proceed,  in  the  following  chapters,  to  give  details  of 
their  relationship  to  the  King  and  his  officials,  of  their 
home  life,  their  business  life,  their  religious  life,  and 
so  on,  during  the  early  sojourn  of  the  children  of 
Israel  in  these  islands. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    RELATIONSHIP  OF  THE  JEWS   TO  THE  KING  AND 

THE   STATE 

The  Jews  who  lived  in  England  during  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries,  occupied  a  most  peculiar 
position.  They  lived  apart  from  the  rest  of  the 
people,  by  whom  they  were  suspected  and  disliked. 
The  barons  and  the  country  gentry,  who  borrowed 
money  from  them,  the  abbots  and  priors,  who  also 
had  similar  dealings  with  them,  were  anything  but 
grateful  to  them  under  their  financial  obligations ; 
and  whenever  there  was  an  outburst  of  civil  war  or 
of  popular  rioting,  they  were  not  unwilling  to  use  the 
occasion  to  destroy  the  bonds  or  to  capture  the 
chests  which  contained  the  records  of  their  debts. 
The  connexion  of  the  Jews  with  the  King — at  first 
personally  and  afterwards  under  an  organised  Ex- 
chequer— was  still  more  peculiar.  They  were  his 
personal  chattels  ;  in  the  statute  "  De  la  Jeuerie  " 
(c.  1275)  there  is  an  expression  used  as  to  the  relation- 
ship of  the  Jew  "  au  Roi,  Ky  serfil  est.^^  Here  we  see 
an  official  statement  of  the  position  in  which  the 
Israelite  stood  to  the  King  "  whose  serf  he  ^5."  He 
had  to  obtain  royal  permission  to  settle  in  any  city 
or  town,  from  which  he  could  not  remove  without 

8 


RELATIONSHIP  TO  THE  KING  AND  STATE     9 

similar  leave  ;  his  property  was  continually  liable  to 
be  taxed  and  tallaged  ;  at  his  death  the  King  claimed 
the  whole,  and  secured  a  large  share,  of  his  possessions. 
The  bonds  and  records,  which  told  of  his  debts,  were 
(as  we  shall  see)  duplicated,  chested  and  catalogued ; 
so  that  the  royal  officials  could  inspect  them,  and,  if 
need  be,  seize  them.  And  the  occasion  often  arose 
when  they  were  seized  and  shared.  Why  then  did 
the  Jews  accept  such  a  position  and  submit  to  such 
conditions  ?  The  answer  is  that,  while  the  King  again 
and  again  fleeced  them  (and,  by-the-by,  allowed 
them  to  fleece  their  debtors),  he  would  not  permit 
any  one  else  to  interfere  with  their  finances.  It  is 
true,  as  remarked  above,  that  during  disturbances 
rioters  now  and  again  attacked  the  dwellings  of  the 
Jews  and  the  official  arks  which  contained  their 
bonds,  but  such  tumults  were  promptly  sup- 
pressed and  punished.  And  these  steps  were  taken, 
not  merely  for  the  sake  of  public  order,  but  that  the 
royal  authorities  might  have  power  over  the  Jewish 
possessions — for  purposes  of  taxing  and  tallaging. 
The  Jews  often  complained  and  piteously  appealed ; 
they  offered  gifts  and  bribes ;  they  threatened  to 
withdraw  from  the  land.  But  they  preferred  royal 
exactions  to  baronial  or  popular  plunder,  and  they 
knew  that  they  might  fare  worse  across  the  Channel. 
These  exactions  were  not  so  oppressive,  nor  were 
outbreaks  so  tumultuous,  in  the  earlier  reigns ;  but 
the  royal  authorities  gradually  felt  their  power,  and 
the  exchequer  organisations  became  more  systematic. 
On  the  death  of  Aaron  of  Lincoln,  c.  1187,  the  posses- 
sions and  debts  of  this  keen  financier  were  found  to  be 
so  valuable  and  extensive  that  a  special  part  of  the 


10     HISTORY   OF   THE   JEWS   IN   ENGLAND 

Treasury — called  Scaccarium  Aaronis — was  assigned 
for  the  administration  of  his  monej's,  and  during 
several  years  the  collection  of  his  debts  was  officially 
continued. 

Again,    after   the    tumults    which    arose    at   the 
coronation  of  Richard  I.  in  1199,  and  the  destruction 
of  the  Jewish  bonds  and  securities  shortly  afterwards 
at  York  and  elsewhere,  the  Jewry  was  re-organised 
and  special  Ordinances  of   the  Jews  were  enacted, 
a  department  of  the  Treasury,  called  "  the  Exchequer 
of  the  Jews,"  being  set  apart  for  the  control  of  Jewish 
usury.     It  is  not  necessary  here  to  go  into  technical 
details  as  to  this  organisation,  which  will  be  found 
elaborately  described  in  Madox's  standard  work  on 
the  Exchequer  and  lucidly  dealt  with  in  Dr.  C.  Gross's 
paper  in  the  Jewish  Exhibition  Publications.     Special 
high  officials  were  appointed  at  headquarters,  and  minor 
custodians  were  placed  in  charge  of    the  chests  or 
arks  which  were  established  for  the  care  of  bonds  or 
*'  Starrs  "  at  many  local  centres.      Fortunately  a  long 
series  of  records  connected  with  the  transactions  of 
the  Exchequer  of  the  Jews  has  been  preserved,  and 
several  volumes,  epitomising  these  proceedings  from 
the  institution  of  this  department  down  to  the  Expul- 
sion of  the  Jews,  have  already  been  issued  by  the 
Anglo-Jewish  Historical  Society  under  the  able  editor- 
ship of  Mr.  J.  Rigg.     In  these  records  most  interesting 
details  are  given  not  only  of  the  financial  dealings  of 
Israelite  money-dealers,  but  also  of  the  habits  and 
customs  of  the  Jews  in  England. 

This  Exchequer  system  was  maintained  right  up 
to  the  time  of  the  Expulsion,  on  behalf  of  the  King, 
who  still  exercised  a  personal  control  thereof — speaking 


RELATIONSHIP  TO  THE  KING  AND  STATE    11 

of  the  Jewiy  and  the  Jews  as  Judaismus  nosier  et 
Judcei  nostri,  or  ot  individual  Jews  {e.g.  Aaron 
of  York)  as  Judccus  nosier.  They  were  also,  as  we 
have  seen,  disposed  of  as  a  community  and  per- 
sonally. Thus  not  only  did  Henry  III.  mortgage 
them  as  a  body  to  his  unele  and  to  his  sons  (as  when 
in  1255  he  assigned  the  whole  body  of  the  Jews 
to  Earl  Richard  as  a  security  for  a  loan,  and  as 
in  1262  he  granted  the  Jewry  to  Prince  Edward,  with 
the  use  of  the  seals  of  his  Exchequer  of  the  Jews  to 
authorise  his  writs  and  with  a  prison  for  their  deten- 
tion), but  he  even  ratified  the  demise  of  the  Jewry  by 
his  son  to  the  Caturcensian  merchants  for  two  years. 
Similarly  as  to  individual  Jews,  Henry  assigned  Aaron, 
son  of  Vives,  as  a  personal  "  chattel  "  to  his  son 
Edmund  earl  of  Lancaster,  and  Edward  I.  granted 
Hagin,  son  of  Dieulecresse,  to  his  consort  Eleanor  of 
Castile,  and  so  on. 

In  the  working  of  the  Exchequer  system,  not  only 
were  English  judges  and  officials  nominated,  but 
Jewish  assessors  and  agents  were  continually  ap- 
pointed ;  and  this  was  the  more  necessary  as  many 
of  the  deeds  and  starrs  were  written  in  Hebrew.  The 
custodians  of  the  local  chests  were  also  partly  Jews 
and  partly  Englishmen. 

It  may  be  added  that,  during  the  whole  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  an  official  head  of  the  Jewish 
community  was  appointed  to  represent  his  brethren. 
His  technical  title  was  "  Presbyter  omnium  Judjc- 
orum  Anglise,"  and  the  ecclesiastical  tone  of  this 
name  has  led  many  writers  to  speak  of  these  officials 
as  if  they  held  some  spiritual  appointment,  and  to 
style   them   "  Chief  Rabbis  "  ;     but  the  duties  were 

B 


12    HISTORY   OF  THE   JEWS   IN   ENGLAND 

certainly  secular.  There  were  six  of  these  Arch- 
Presbyters  ;  Jacob  (1199),  Josceus  (1207),  Aaron  of 
York  (1236),  Elias  Episcopus  (1243),  Hagin,  son  of 
Master  Moses  (1257),  and  Hagin,  son  of  Dieulecresse 
(1281).  The  name  of  the  fourth  of  these,  Elias  le 
Eveske,  has  supported  the  mistaken  idea  that  they 
exercised  rabbinical  and  other  religious  functions  ; 
but  the  designations — Episcopus,  Le  Eveske,  Cohen  or 
Bishop — had  then  become  a  surname.  It  is  not 
necessary  here  to  enter  into  an  account  of  the  various 
duties  assigned  to  these  Arch-Presbyters,  nor  to 
allude  to  their  somewhat  checkered  careers.  The 
writer  may  perhaps  be  allowed  to  refer  to  some  of  the 
chapters  of  his  Studies  in  Anglo- Jewish  History  (1913). 
The  practical  working  of  the  above  system  may 
further  be  gathered  from  the  following  sections  on 
different  aspects  of  Jewish  life  during  the  period  which 
we  are  now  considering,  where  it  will  be  noticed  that 
the  rigour  of  the  organisation  was  considerably 
modified  by  "  the  qualified  autonomy  of  the  Jewry  " 
(as  Mr.  Rigg  puts  it),  and  by  the  personal  favours 
granted  to  individual  Jews. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   BUSINESS    LIFE   OF   THE  JEWS 

The  organised  system  described  in  the  last  chapter  was 
rendered  necessary  by  the  ahnost  universal  occupation 
of  the  English  Jews  as  money-lenders.  It  is  true  that 
now  and  then  we  meet  with  such  names  as  R.  Solomon 
the  physician,  Ysaac  Medicus,  Menahem  the  scribe,  Leo 
the  goldsmith,  etc. ;  but  these  are  exceptional.  The 
large  majority  of  the  men,  and  not  a  few  of  the 
women,  dealt  in  usury.  As  to  the  women,  we  find 
transactions  recorded  in  connexion  with  Jewesses 
trading  in  their  own  names,  as  well  as  frequent 
allusions  to  negotiations  conducted  by  wives  and 
daughters  in  the  absence  of  their  husbands  or  fathers. 
For  instance,  Milla,  the  widow  of  Saulot  Muton,  in 
12G7,  had  "  sold  to  Master  Elias,  son  of  Master  Moses, 
a  debt  of  IOO5.,  yearly  fee-rent,  under  the  names  of 
Master  Nicholas  de  Waddingham  and  the  said  Milla  "  ; 
Godenota,  wife  of  Furmentin  of  Lincoln,  lent  moneys 
by  chirograph  to  Roger  de  Neville,  in  1220,  "  to  wit, 
6|  marks  for  10. |-  marks  and  1  seam  of  corn  " ; 
Margaret,  daughter  of  Jurnet  of  Norwich,  had  dealings 
in  usury  with  Peter  of  Eclesfield  in  1201,  and  appar- 
ently herself  drew  up  the  starr  in  Hebrew,  using  her 
home  name  of  Miriam  ;  Michael  Strangelynn  came  to 

13 


U     HISTORY   OF   THE   JEWS    IN   ENGLAND 

Cambridge  in  1272,  and  entered  into  negotiations 
\vith  the  wife  of  Abraham,  son  of  Antera  ;  Roger  de 
Fanecurt  appeared  at  Stamford  in  1274  with  reference 
to  debt  claimed  by  Dyaya  of  Hohn,  the  defence  being 
that  Roger  had  two  or  three  years  before  come  to  the 
Jew's  house  in  that  town,  "  and  the  said  Dyaya  not 
being  at  home,  he  paid  the  moneys  to  his  wife,  who 
gave  him  the  corresponding  part  of  the  charter,  to 
show  to  the  Chirographers  of  Stamford,  to  enable  him 
to  withdraw  the  said  charter  from  the  Chest  as  being 
quit." 

In  these  quotations  various  technical  expressions 
happen  to  occur — such  as  Chest,  Chirographer, 
Charter,  Starr,  etc.  It  may,  therefore,  be  well — 
although  the  subject  has  been  referred  to  in  the 
previous  section — to  give  a  brief  description  of  the 
system  which  had  been  introduced  for  the  organisation 
of  Jewish  financial  dealings.  The  important  work  at 
Westminster  at  the  Exchequer,  with  the  Justices,  and 
the  Jewish  and  other  assessors,  the  Plea  Rolls,  etc., 
need  not  be  further  detailed  ;  but  the  work  of  the 
local  branches  must  be  described.  At  various  centres 
there  were  Chests  or  Archce  of  the  chirographs.  In  the 
Capitula  de  Judceis  (1194)  it  was  ordered  that  the 
Jews  should  arrange  their  loans  in  the  presence  of 
four  chirographers,  two  Christian  and  two  Jewish, 
of  two  scribes  and  certain  other  officials.  The  charters 
or  acknowledgments  of  debt  were  to  be  duplicate 
deeds  Avritten  on  one  membrane  and  afterwards 
divided ;  one  part  with  the  seal  of  the  debtor  to  be 
retained  by  the  Jew,  the  other  part,  called  "  the  foot," 
etc.,  to  be  kept  in  a  common  chest,  or  ark,  with 
three  locks,  etc.     A  roll  was  to  be  compiled  of  all  the 


THE    BUSINESS   LIFE   OF   THE   JEWS       15 

cliarters  or  chirographs,  and  regulations  were  made 
as  to  their  custody  and  release.  There  were  changes 
at  a  later  date,  a  triplicate  form  being  ordered  for  the 
debtor,  the  Jew  and  the  chest. 

The  Jews  were  ordered  to  reside  only  in  such  places 
as  had  chests  assigned  to  them,  and  a  long  list  of  such 
centres  might  be  compiled.  But  though  there  are 
writs  and  precepts  with  reference  to  such  compulsory 
residence  on  the  part  of  the  Jews,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  they  found  their  way  to  almost  every  part 
of  the  country. 

The  chests  and  the  rolls  were  periodicall}''  scruti- 
nised by  the  authorities,  and  their  inspection,  and  at 
times  their  seizure,  gave  the  King  and  his  officials 
a  great  hold  not  only  upon  the  wealth  of  the  Jews, 
but  also  upon  the  possessions  of  many  of  the  barons 
and  other  debtors  of  the  financiers. 

In  the  working  of  the  Exchequer  and  the  chests, 
not  only  were  there  the  chirographs  and  the  charters 
and  the  starrs  or  quit-claims,  but  also  there  was  a 
curious  system  of  payment  by  tallies — pieces  of  wood 
cloven  asunder,  both  the  stock  and  the  counter- 
stock,  or  counter-foil,  having  the  names  of  the  Jews 
written  thereon  in  Hebrew  or  Latin,  with  the  amount 
of  the  debt,  which  was  also  indicated  by  certain 
notches. 

Many  of  these  deeds  and  starrs  and  tallies  still 
remain  in  the  British  Museum,  in  the  Record  Office 
and  elsewhere  to  remind  us  of  the  tens  of  thousands 
of  such  tokens  of  exchange  which  once  existed ;  and 
the  Plea  Rolls  of  the  Court  of  Exchequer  and  other 
records  still  preserve  for  us  the  details  of  these 
financial  dealings. 


IG     HISTORY   OF   THE   JEWS    IN   ENGLAND 

Still  in  the  triforium  of  the  south  transept  (Poets' 
Corner)  of  Westminster  Abbey  may  be  seen  a  number 
of  the  Chests,  or  Archa?,  which  were  by  royal 
command  removed  thither  from  the  local  centres  at 
the  Expulsion  in  the  year  1290. 

These  records  and  notices  in  the  old  chroniclers, 
ecclesiastical  and  otherwise,  reveal  to  us  the  extra- 
ordinary number  and  the  variety  of  those  with  whom 
the    Jews    had    dealings — the    castle-builders,    the 
crusaders,  the  founders  of  abbeys  and  monasteries — 
these  last  especially,  both  on  their  own  account  and 
on   behalf   of   others,    having   many   such   financial 
transactions.    Nine  Cistercian  abbeys  built  between 
the  years  1140  and  1152,  for  instance,  owed  moneys 
to  Aaron  of  York ;    Aaron  of  Lincoln  used  to  boast 
"  that  it  was  he  who  had  made  a  window  for  the 
Abbey  of  St.  Alban's,  and  that  he  had  prepared  a 
home  for  the  Saint  when  he  was  without  one  "  (as 
Prof.  Freeman  and  Dr.  Joseph  Jacobs  were  fond  of 
pointing  out).    Turning  to  individuals,  we  may  refer 
to  such  names  as  those  of  Prince  (afterwards  King) 
John ;     Walter  Giffard,   Archbishoio   of   York   (who 
appeared  in  person  at  an  inquiry  held  at  Warwick 
in   1270,    concerning   a   debt   of   £120,    claimed   by 
Benedict  of  Lincoln) ;    great  noblemen  like  William 
de  Mandeville,  earl  of  Essex,  in  1220  ;  the  trustees  of 
the  Merton  property  situated   in   Cambridge ;    and 
such    interesting    personalities    as  Fulk   Fitz-Warin 
(see  the  Story  of  Robin  Hood),  a  Roger  Tichborne 
and  a  W^alter  Long,  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

There  are  many  points  in  connexion  with  the  Jews 
and  their  commercial  and  financial  transactions 
which    might    be    discussed.      We  can   only    here 


THE   BUSINESS   LIFE   OF  THE   JEWS       17 

tell  of  the  proclamations  which  were  made  as  to 
debts  and  claims  in  their  synagogues,  a  sheriff,  for 
instance,  sending  word  that  in  this  manner  notices 
should  be  given  on  two  or  three  sabbaths,  as  well  in 
Latin  as  in  Hebrew,  concerning  some  deceased  Jew  or 
some  disputed  transaction.  The  mention  of  sheriffs 
reminds  us  of  the  difficulties  that  often  attended  the 
levying  of  debts — the  common  bell  of  the  town 
being  rung,  a  hue  and  cry  being  made,  riot  and 
assault  sometimes  following.  When  Roger  de  Kinton, 
sergeant  of  the  Exchequer  of  the  Jews,  went  to 
Southampton  in  1275  to  levy  a  debt  of  Jewry,  the 
blacksmith  by  the  way  wounded  his  horse,  and 
threats  abounded. 


GB|f07i|U|I,aItol 


AAKON  OF  COLCHESTER. 


% 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  HOME   LIFE   OF  THE  JEWS 

The  public  troubles  which  so  continually  beset  the 
Jewish  people  drew  them  closer  to  one  another,  and 
united  them  in  their  family  life.  Without,  there 
might  be  royal  oppression  or  popular  hatred  ;  but 
within,  there  was  home  happiness.  Their  quarters 
might  be  close  and  confined,  but  they  were  among 
friends.  Compare  the  remarkable  Home  Life  of  the 
Jews  in  the  Middle  Ages  by  Dr.  Israel  Abrahams,  and 
the  frank  and  picturesque  modern  Ghetto  stories  by 
Mr.  Israel  Zangwill. 

It  is  true  that  in  Mediaeval  English  towns  the 
Jewry  was  not  a  Ghetto ;  sometimes  even,  as  at 
Lincoln,  the  houses  of  the  Jews  were  situated  in 
different  parts  of  the  town.  Often  they  were  good- 
sized  mansions,  built  of  stone,  as  in  the  city  just 
mentioned,  in  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  and  other  places, 
where  such  buildings  still  remain.  The  Chronicle 
of  Abingdon,  under  date  1244-5,  tells  how  "  the 
clerks  of  Oxford  invaded  the  Jewry  there,  and  sacked 
the  sumptuous  houses  of  their  creditors."  Similarly  in 
1274  the  houses  of  the  wealthy  Isaac  of  Southwark  at 
Guildford,  and  of  the  influential  Deudon^  at  Winchester 
were  attacked.  Such  assaults  as  these  (which  were 
not  always  so  successful)  were  among  the  causes  of 

18 


THE   HOME  LIFE   OF   THE   JEWS  19 

the  houses  of  the  Jews  being  built  of  stone.  In  the 
celebrated  riot  at  York  at  the  beginning  of  Richard  I.'s 
reign,  the  houses  there  "  could  not  be  broken  into 
owing  to  their  strong  build,"  until  the  thatched  roof 
was  set  on  fire. 

Another  characteristic  of  these  dwellings  was  the 
underground  cellar.  Such  a  stone-vaulted  cellar  may 
be  seen  on  the  Steep  Hill  at  Lincoln,  and  such 
thick  underground  walls  still  exist  by  the  Guildhall 
at  Cambridge.  In  the  Jewish  Plea  Rolls  there  are 
several  allusions  to  underground  cellars  and  pits,  and 
to  chests  and  treasures  and  coin-clippings  found 
therein.  Readers  of  Ivanhoe  will  remember  the  fright 
which  Locksley  (Robin  Hood)  gave  Isaac  of  York, 
when  he  told  him  :  "I  am  intimately  acquainted, 
Isaac,  with  the  very  iron  chest  in  which  thou  dost  keep 
thy  money-bags.  What !  Know  I  not  the  great  stone 
beneath  the  apple-tree,  that  leads  into  the  vaulted 
chamber  under  thy  garden  at  York  ?  "  The  curiosity 
of  the  present  writer  was  once  excited  by  noting  a 
mandate  quoted  in  the  Bibliographical  Guide  to  Anglo - 
Jewish  History,  p.  29,  as  follows  :  "  the  coffins  of  the 
Jews  to  be  searched."  But  a  reference  to  the  original, 
in  Rymer's  Foedera,  showed  that  it  was  a  misprint 
for  "  coffers,""  and  therefore  merely  an  allusion  to  an 
official  inspection  of  the  Chirographical  Chests.  It 
may  be  added  that  subterranean  treasure  belonged 
by  right  to  the  King  ;  as  we  read  in  quaint  Norman 
French  in  Les  Chapitles  tuchaunz  le  Gijwerie :  "  De 
treseur  trove  de  suz  terre  en  mesons  des  givs  ou  ayllurs 
apres  la  mort  des  gyvs  (concerning  treasure  found 
underground  in  houses  of  Jews,  or  elsewhere,  after  the 
death  of  Jews)." 


20    HISTORY    OF   THE   JEWS    IN   ENGLAND 

From  these  homes  the  masters  frequently  travelled 
in  connexion  with  their  financial  transactions  into 
different  parts  of  England  and  sometimes  to  the 
Continent,  their  wives,  as  we  have  seen,  being  ready 
to  do  business  in  their  absence.  Readers  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott's  novel  quoted  above  may  again  be  reminded  of 
the  description  of  the  journeys  of  Isaac  of  York,  and 
those  who  consult  the  Jewish  Plea  Rolls  will  find 
many  allusions  to  the  travels  of  the  Israelite  money- 
dealers,  to  their  hiring  of  horses  and  of  carts.  A 
penny  a  day  Bonevie  of  Oxford  paid,  at  the  end  of 
June,  1272,  when  he  hired  a  horse  for  his  journey  from 
that  city  to  London  ;  and  the  bridle  which  he  lost 
was  valued  at  one  halfpenny.  Moses  Rod  and  Aaron 
of  Cornwall  were  charged,  at  Hereford  in  1244-5,  with 
stealing  the  horse  which  they  were  riding. 

Jews  also  frequently  changed  their  place  of 
residence,  and  for  this  removal  they  had  to  obtain 
permission.  Josce  and  Meyr  of  Oxford,  for  instance, 
in  1267,  paid  4  bezants  to  the  royal  authorities  to  be 
allowed  to  move  to  Bridgnorth ;  there,  by-the-by, 
they  were  permitted  to  find  harbourage  in  the  castle 
in  case  of  danger.  Moses  of  Northampton,  on  the 
other  hand,  having  removed  by  stealth  to  Oxford  in 
1273,  was  arrested  and  imprisoned.  When  Aaron  of 
Kingston  obtained,  in  1266,  a  safe-conduct  for  himself 
and  his  family  to  remove  to  Windsor,  he  hired  a  cart 
to  carry  his  goods  to  the  royal  borough. 

On  landing  in  England,  and  on  leaving  for  the 
Continent,  the  Jews  had  to  obtain  permission.  For 
instance,  in  the  year  1220,  when  Master  Josce  landed 
between  Pevensey  and  Hastings,  he  was  arrested  and 
money  taken  from  him.    When  "  Jacob  of  Oxford,  of 


-■■*^ 


I 


MENASSKII    r.l.N     ISKAKl, 

l-KOM    A    I'llUIK'All     r.V    UKMI'.KAMir 


Frontispiece 


THE   HOME  LIFE   OF   THE   JEWS  21 

London,  went  overseas  in  1273,  towards  the  parts  of 
Gascony,  without  a  permit  (although  he  had  left  one 
of  the  keys  of  the  London  Chirograph  Chest  with  his 
son  for  safe  keeping),  a  mandate  was  issued  to  the 
Constable  of  the  Tower  of  London  and  the  Sheriff  of 
Oxfordshire,  to  take  all  his  houses,  rents,  tenements, 
goods  and  chattels  into  the  King's  hand,"  as  we  read 
in  Mr.  Rigg's  Calendar  of  the  Exchequer  of  the  Jews, 
vol.  ii.  p.  107. 

Having  made  these  allusions  to  removals  (and 
others  might  be  quoted,  such  as  "  the  absconding,  in 
1253,  of  Josce  of  Colchester,  of  Lincoln,  to  evade 
tallage,  wherefore  his  house  in  that  city  was  dis- 
trained " ;  the  flight  of  Peytivin,  a  leading  Jew  of 
the  same  city,  two  years  later,  when  so  many  arrests 
were  made  about  "  the  martyrdom  of  little  Hugh," 
and  so  on),  it  is  right  to  add  that  there  are  also 
allusions  to  long  continuance  in  certain  towns  and  to 
cordial  esteem  on  the  part  of  their  fellow-citizens. 
Jacob,  son  of  Bonefey,  of  Oxford,  for  instance,  in 
1244,  was  recommended  "  by  honest  and  lawful  men 
of  the  town,  to  wit,  by  Geoffrey  de  Stocwell  [one  of 
the  Christian  chirographers  of  that  city]  and  by 
eleven  other  inhabitants,  who  testified  that  the  said 
Jacob,  son  of  Bonefey,  was  brought  up  among  them 
from  infancy,  and  bore  himself  ever  leally  in  all  manner 
of  lealty."  Benedict,  son  of  Aaron,  is  said  to  have 
held  office  (as  mayor)  for  some  years  before  1249  in 
Southampton  (if  Mrs.  Green's  Tonm  Life,  ii.  307,  is 
reliable) ;  and  according  to  Dr.  Kitchin's  Winchester, 
p.  108,  "  Simon  le  Draper,  the  mayor,  in  12G8,  by 
letters  patent  under  the  common  seal  of  the  city, 
admitted  'oui-  faithful  and  special  neighbour,  Benedict 


22     HISTORY   OF   THE   JEWS    IN   ENGLAND 

the  Jew,  son  of  Abraham,  into  full  membership  of  the 
liberty  of  the  city,  and  citizenship,  and  guild-rights  in 
the  I\Icrchant-Guild,  Mdth  all  the  privileges  in  the 
same  liberty."  So,  to  take  one  more  instance,  Cresse, 
the  son  of  Master  Moses  (as  we  learn  from  the  Patent 
Rolls  of  54  Henry  III.),  being  "  a  good  and  faithful 
Jew,  and  having  lived  well  and  faithfully,  made  his  will 
according  to  the  custom  of  Jewry  and  left  his  houses 
to  his  son  Cok." 

This  allusion  to  the  making  of  a  will  (and  other 
instances  might  be  quoted — such  as  the  record  of 
how  Solomon  of  Gloucester,  on  a  certain  sabbath  in 
the  year  1220,  "  thinking  to  die,  had  divers  Jews 
summoned  by  the  sheriff  to  make  his  will,"  etc.) — 
illustrates  one  of  the  various  Jewish  local  privileges 
and  customs,  upon  which  much  might  be  said ;  but 
some  of  these  are  too  technical  to  be  detailed  here, 
and  some  are  so  connected  with  the  religious  life  of 
the  Jews  that  they  must  be  treated  of  in  our  next 
section. 

Something  ought  also  to  be  said  of  the  various 
accusations  brought  against  the  Jews  ;  the  so-called 
martyrdoms  of  Christian  boys  at  Norwich,  York,  etc., 
have  already  been  referred  to  ;  in  the  Plea  Rolls  and 
elsewhere  frequent  charges  are  made  against  the 
Israelite  financiers  of  altering,  or  concealing,  or 
forging  charters  and  starrs,  many  of  these  im- 
peachments being  sustained  in  court,  and  not  a  few 
of  them  being  admitted  ;  the  offence  of  coin-clipping 
(so  easily  accomplished  in  the  coinage  of  those  times) 
was  frequently  brought  against  them,  and  numerous 
executions  were  carried  out.  Imprisonments  and 
capital  convictions  were  again  and  again  the  lot,  even 


THE   HOME  LIFE   OF   THE   JEWS  23 

for  members  of  wealthy  and  influential  Jewish  families. 
Benedict,  the  son  of  Abraham,  whom  we  have  seen 
honoured  at  Winchester,  was  arrested  and  hanged  ; 
Belle-Assez,  a  distinguished  Jewess,  who  owned  the 
stone  house  at  Lincoln,  and  to  whom  allusion  will  be 
made  in  the  next  chapter,  met  with  a  similar  fate  ;  and 
other  cases  might  be  mentioned.  Some  of  these 
accusations  were  probably  false,  and  many  of  the 
imprisonments  were  undoubtedly  arbitrary  and  unde- 
served. But  the  homes  of  the  Mediaeval  Jews  were 
often  darkened  by  grievous  calamities. 

No  wonder  individual  Jews  were  glad  to  have  the 
special  protection  of  members  of  the  royal  family  ; 
and  no  wonder  there  were  endeavours  to  strengthen 
their  communal  action.  There  are  frequent  allusions 
to  the  combined  dealings  of  local  cominunities ;  a 
remarkable  example  being  the  boycotting  action  of  the 
Canterbury  community  in  the  year  12C6.  They  were 
also  compelled,  as  we  have  seen,  to  reside  in  authorised 
places  ;  a  rule  illustrated  by  the  following  order  in 
1270,  when  "  Jacob  of  Norwich  received  the  King's 
licence  to  reside  at  Honiton,  where  there  is  no  community 
of  the  Jewsy 

The  history,  the  character  and  the  habits  of  many 
Jews  are  illustrated  by  their  names.  A  large  majority 
were  still  termed  the  sons  and  daughters  of  their  fathers 
and  mothers,  Isaac  the  son  of  Abraham,  Miriam  the 
daughter  of  Jurnet,  Josce  the  son  of  Sara,  and  so  on. 
But  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  surnames 
were  becoming  common.  Many  were  called  after  the 
town  in  which  they  had  first  lived — we  have  already 
had  occasion  to  mention  such  names  as  Josce  of 
Colchester,  of  Lincoln,  as  well  as  Isaac  of  York,  etc. 


24    HISTORY   OF   THE  JEWS   IN   ENGLAND 

Some  came  from  "  over  the  seas,"  Judas  le  Franceys, 
Joseph  de  Peitevin,  Aaron  de  Hibernia,  and  so  on. 
Some  were  known  from  some  personal  peculiarity, 
Isaac  the  Long,  Isaac  the  Short,  Moses  the  Dark  (le 
Brim),  Deudone  "  turn-toes,"  Moses  "  the  Nosey," 
etc.  We  have  already  spoken  of  such  Jews  as 
Solomon  the  Physician,  Isaac  Mcdicus,  Menahem  the 
Scribe,  Leo  the  Goldsmith — where  it  is  difficult  to  say 
whether  we  are  alluding  to  the  profession  or  to  the 
surname.  In  olden  and  in  modern  times,  the  names 
of  animals  were  sometimes  assumed — e.g.  Abraham 
le  Chat  (or  Kat)  and  Josce  Pigge.  We  are  reminded 
how,  in  later  times,  "  once  when  King  George  III.  was 
inspecting  an  East  End  regiment,  in  which  the  Jewish 
element  predominated,  he  is  said  to  have  expressed 
some  amused  surprise  on  hearing  from  the  roll-call 
some  of  the  volunteers  designated  by  names  usually 
borne  by  familiar  quadrupeds — such  as  Fox,  Wolf,  Bear 
and  Lyon "  (the  quotation  is  from  J.  Picciotto's 
Sketches,  p.  276).  Not  to  mention  other  kinds  of 
names,  it  may  be  added  that  such  formal  surnames  as 
Bateman,  Pearce,  Russell,  etc.,  appear  in  old  Jewish 
deeds. 

Then  there  were  double  names,  and  changed 
names.  In  the  Plea  Rolls,  under  date  1273,  we  read  : 
"Be  it  had  in  remembrance,  that  Abraham  Mutun 
gives  the  King  1  bezant  that  his  cognomen  be 
changed."  As  to  double  names,  a  Jew  frequently 
had  his  home  and  religious  name  {Shem  Hakkodesh) 
and  his  secular  or  worldly  name  (Kinnui).  Benedict 
of  Lincoln,  known  as  "  le  Riche,"  had  his  synagogue- 
name  Elias ;  Solomon  of  Norwich,  called  also  Mordecai, 
was  known  to  the  world  as  Dieulecresse,  and  so  on, 


THE   HOME  LIFE   OF   THE   JEWS  25 

as  may  be  seen  in  M.  D.  Davis's  Sheiaroth,  and  other 
documents. 

And  as  the  men's  names  are  expressive,  so  are  the 
Jewesses  picturesquely  styled.  Witness  the  following  : 
Licorice,  Swetecot,  Belle-Assez,  Regina,  Comitissa, 
Preciosa,  Bessa(when  this  lady's  tragic  story  is  recorded 
in  the  Plea  Rolls  we  are  incidentally  told  that  she  was 
wearing  a  buckle  and  gold  rings),  Saphira,  Brunetta, 
Glorietta,  and  scores  of  others. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  some  of  these  names,  and 
many  other  such,  both  of  men  and  women,  are  Nor- 
man French.  And  this  reminds  us  that  doubtless  the 
language  ordinarily  used  in  those  days  by  the  Jews  was 
French ;  which  is  corroborated  by  historical  notices  and 
by  the  reported  witticisms  of  certain  Israelites,  the  point 
whereof  might  be  lost  if  this  were  not  remembered. 

A  note  may  be  added  as  to  the  yellow  badge 
which  was  compulsorily  worn  upon  the  breast  of  the 
Jewish  gaberdines  in  mediaeval  times.  In  the  Close 
Rolls,  under  date  2  Henry  III.  (1218),  may  be  seen 
a  royal  Proclamation  following  certain  ecclesiastical 
regulations,  and  ordering  "  the  wearing  on  the  forepart 
of  the  upper  garment  of  two  broad  stripps  of  white 
linen  or  parchment."  Dr.  Tovey  says  that  the  purpose 
was  "  to  compleat  their  Security  (that  none  might  do 
them  hurt,  under  pretence  of  not  knowing  them)." 
But  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  Jews  themselves 
looked  at  the  Signum  in  this  light.  This  order  was 
not  actually  repealed  until  the  year  1846. 

The  interesting  question  of  the  Home  Life  of  the 
Jews  is,  of  course,  many-sided.  Further  aspects  of  it 
may  be  appropriately  dealt  with  in  the  next  section. 


CHAPTER  V 

RELIGIOUS    LIFE   OF  THE  JEWS 

The  subject  of  this  chapter  is  closely  connected  with 
that  of  the  last  section.  Their  family  life  and  their 
religious  life  had  much  in  common.  There  were 
many  points  of  tangency  between  the  Home  and  the 
Synagogue. 

It  has  been  customary  to  give  a  list  of  those  who 
are  often  called  the  "  Chief  Rabbis  "  in  England  during 
Medioeval  times,  and  the  learned  Rev.  Dr.  H.  Adler 
had  a  special  paper  on  these  distinguished  Jews. 
But  it  has  been  confidently  asserted  in  a  former 
chapter  of  this  work  (see  p.  11)  that  this  is  a  mistake  ; 
that  these  officials  were  civil,  and  not  spiritual,  leaders, 
so  that,  under  this  section,  we  need  not  again  refer 
to  them. 

There  were,  however,  a  number  of  learned  men, 
trained  in  Jewish  laws  and  customs.  Masters  of  the 
Law  they  were  called,  who  were  honoured  in  the  local 
communities  and  to  whom  the  people  turned  in 
matters  of  difficulty.  They  were  also  consulted  by 
the  royal  authorities,  when  any  Jewish  custom  or 
observance  was  disputed.  Examples  of  such  con- 
sultation by  the  state  officials  may  be  noted  now  and 
again  in  the  Plea  Rolls ;  for  instance,  Master  Elias, 

26 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE  OF  THE  JEWS  27 

the  son  of  Master  Moses,  was  summoned  into  the 
presence  of  the  King  on  January  30,  1270,  and 
consulted  as  to  Jewish  law  and  custom  with  regard  to 
certain  disputed  "  debts,  goods  and  chattels  ;  "  he 
quoted  certain  precedents,  and  referred  to  a  previous 
case  of  excommunication.  To  take  another  example 
from  a  somewhat  different  point  of  view,  we  learn 
from  the  Patent  Rolls,  under  date  July  28,  1250, 
that  King  Henry  III.  granted  a  licence  to  the  Masters 
of  the  Law  of  the  commonalty  of  the  Jews  in  London 
to  excommunicate  such  Jews  as  refused  to  contribute 
the  subsidy  they  had  promised  towards  sustaining 
their  common  cemetery  in  London. 

Dr.  Joseph  Jacobs,  in  his  excellent  book  on  the 
Jezvs  of  Angevin  England,  has  given  quite  a  long  list 
of  distinguished  Anglo-Jewish  Rabbis  avIio  lived  in  or 
visited  our  island  in  the  twelfth  century,  with  learned 
treatises  composed  by  them.  It  is  generally  thought, 
however,  that  the  list  is  rather  imaginative  ;  though, 
of  course,  we  must  recognise  such  grammarians  as 
Moses  ben  Isaac  Hanassiah,  and  such  visitors  as 
Abraham  Ibn  Ezra,  the  celebrated  author  from  Sjoain, 
whom  Browning  celebrates  as  "  Rabbi  ben  Ezra." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  when  Joseph,  son  of 
Baruch,  visited  England  in  1211,  he  induced  many 
English  Jews  to  go  with  him  and  his  French  followers 
on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land  ;  and  similarly  in 
1257,  when  R.  Jehiel  of  Paris  journeyed  to  Jerusalem 
he  was  accompanied  by  some  300  English  and  French 
disciples,  who  had  been  ill-treated  in  their  native 
countries. 

Mr.  Green,  the  historian,  and  others  have  written 

of  learned  Jews  and  medical  teachers  at  Oxford,  and 

c 


28      HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

certain  halls  in  that  University  have  been  linked  with 
Israelitish  names ;  but  Dr.  Neubauer  is  doubtless 
right  in  questioning  this  teaching  element,  while  the 
houses,  even  if  the  names  be  rightly  attached  to  them, 
were  certainly  not  centres  of  Jewish  culture. 

In  the  Synagogues,  there  were  the  usual  officials 
— the  Warden  (Parnas),  the  Treasurer  {Gabbai),  the 
Chanter  (Chazan),  the  Beadle  {Shamash),  the 
Slaughterer  (Shochet),  etc.  It  may  be  added  that 
several  of  these  titles  were  apparently  being  used  as 
surnames. 

As  to  the  Synagogues  themselves,  almost  every 
place  of  importance  where  Jews  resided  possessed  such 
a  building,  the  positions  of  which  in  London,  Oxford, 
Cambridge,  Norwich,  Canterbury,  etc.,  are  well 
known  ;  while  allusion  is  made  to  the  disposal  of  such 
edifices  after  the  Expulsion  in  official  documents 
preserved  at  the  Record  Office  and  at  the  British 
Museum  (see  the  late  Sir  Lionel  Abrahams's  paper  on 
The  Condition  of  the  Jews  in  England  in  1290,  in  the 
second  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Jewish 
Historical  Society  of  England). 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  Proclama- 
tions made  by  the  sheriffs  and  other  state  officials  in 
Synagogues  on  the  sabbath  day.  Let  another 
example  be  quoted  ;  in  the  Plea  Rolls  of  the  Exchequer 
of  the  Jews  in  Holy  Trinity  Term,  1244,  we  find  : 

"  Proclamation  was  made  in  the  Synagogues  of  the 
Jews  of  London  and  Canterbury,  that,  if  any  Jew  or 
Jewess  have  claim  of  debt  to  make  against  Nicholas  de 
Gyrunde,  he  or  she  must  be  before  the  Justices  on  Holy 
Trinity  quindene  with  chirographs,  tallies,  and  other 
instruments,  wherewith  to   make  good  the  claim  ;    writ 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  THE  JEWS  29 

returned  on  the  said  day  by  the  Sheriff,  who  notified  that 
there  was  no  Jew  in  his  bailliwiek  that  cither  did  or  could 
make  any  such  claim  against  the  said  Nicholas." 

There  were  also  the  special  advisory  Councils 
(Beth-Din),  either  as  standing  committees  or  as  three 
members  chosen  ad  hoc  to  consider  particular  cases. 

In  Mr.  M.  D.  Davis's  Shctaroth,  interesting  Hebrew 
documents  arc  printed  illustrating  the  functions  of  a 
Beth-Din.  At  Norwich,  in  1249,  a  deed  preserved 
at  Westminster  says  : 

"  Betrothal  Contract  entered  into  between  R.  Yomtob 
ben  Moses,  father  of  the  bride,  and  Solomon  ben  Eliab, 
the  bridegroom. 

"  The  father  gives  his  daughter  Zenna  in  marriage, 
promising  a  dowry  of  ten  marks  at  the  time  of  the  nuptials, 
and  a  further  sum  of  five  marks  a  year  later.  He  will 
provide  both  with  week-day  and  Sabbath  apparel,  and 
give  them  ample  board  and  lodging.  He  will  support 
them  an  entire  year  in  his  house,  furnish  them  with  all 
they  require,  clothe  them  and  '  shoe  '  them,  and  discharge 
their  talliage,  if  any  be  imposed  on  them  during  the  afore- 
said year.  He  will  likewise  engage  a  teacher  to  instruct 
the  husband  during  the  twelvemonth  after  marriage,  etc. 

"  The  monetary  mulct  for  breaking  the  contract  is  five 
marks  in  either  case.  The  Beth-Din,  signing  the  deed, 
add  the  words,  '  What  we  have  done,  we  have  sealed.'  " 

Again,  a  Starr  dated  eight  days  before  the  Feast 
of  St.  Peter,  viz.  Gule  d'Aout,  1266,  reads  : 

"  A  Beth-Din  is  appointed  to  take  into  consideration 
the  respective  claims  to  property  preferred  by  Almonda, 
widow  of  the  deceased  Jehoshayah  ben  Elias  Cochab 
(Star)  and  her  youthful  son, 


30     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

"  Almonda,  put  upon  oath,  satisfies  the  tribunal  that 
she  has  received  nought  of  her  late  husband's  property, 
and  demands  her  widow's  jointure.  She  is  hereupon  put 
in  possession  of  a  house  and  adjacent  lands  in  Berstrete, 
[Norwich]  in  the  parish  of  St.  Michael,  the  boundaries  of 
which  are  detailed.     Almonda  proceeds  to  sell  the  property. 

"  The  record  terminates  with  the  names  of  several 
Hebrew  witnesses,  together  with  the  names  of  the  principal 
municipal  authorities  and  burgesses,  all  of  them  being 
privy  to  the  sale  effected." 

Of  another  (undated)  Norwich  deed,  the  following 
summary  is  given  by  Mr.  Davis  : — 

"  Appearing  before  the  Beth-Din  (three  assessors)  on  a 
day  not  indicated,  Miriam,  daughter  of  Joseph,  applies 
for  her  widow's  jointure,  derivable  from  the  chattels  left 
by  her  deceased  husband,  Jacob  ben  Joseph. 

"  The  Beth-Din  entertain  the  application,  putting 
appellant  on  the  '  oath  of  the  law,'  and  eventually  deliver 
judgment,  according  her  certain  lands  in  Mancroft  Street, 
St.  Peter's.  Secure  now  in  undisputed  possession,  the 
widow  transfers  the  property  to  Menahem  ben  Jehoshua." 

Another  house  in  the  same  street  is  mentioned,  in 
a  Record  of  Testimony  dated  1251  : 

"  The  three  sons  of  Gentil,  viz.  Jacob,  Judah  and 
Solomon,  in  the  presence  of  witnesses,  place  upon  record 
their  resolve  to  hand  over  to  their  mother  a  certain  sum 
at  a  given  date.  To  accomplish  this  satisfactorily,  they 
pledge  in  their  hands  the  houses  bequeathed  them  by  their 
father  with  the  proviso,  that  should  each  or  any  of  them 
prove  dilatory  in  his  payments  as  agreed  on,  the  mother 
will  possess  the  power  of  mortgaging  the  property  to  make 
up  the  deficiency.  The  amount  promised,  five  marks,  is 
payable  at  the  Tabernacle  Holidays. 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  THE  JEWS  31 

"  The  brothers  Ukcwise,  severally  and  jointly,  engage 
to  find  a  '  nice,  sweet  partner  '  for  their  sister  Sarah, 
within  the  next  three  years,  present  her  with  a  dowry  of 
ten  marks,  provide  her  with  a  trousseau,  and  defray  all 
the  expenses  of  her  nuptials  and  the  wedding  feast.  The 
'  big '  house  their  father  left  them  in  Mancroft  Street  is 
likewise  pledged  to  the  mother,  with  permission  to  her  to 
convert  it  into  money,  should  any  or  eaeh  of  the  brothers 
prove  dereliet  in  carrying  out  his  promise. 

"  The  brothers  also  declare  upon  oath  their  willingness 
to  do  '  what  the  sages  enjoin  '  with  regard  to  making  a 
provision  for  their  mother,  should  she  be  reduced  to 
poverty. 

"  The  *  big  '  house  in  Mancroft  Street  was  provisionally 
tenanted  by  the  widow,  whose  sons  now  engage  to  let  her 
have  quiet  possession,  and  not  thrust  any  stranger  on  her 
against  her  will  and  acquiescence.  If  all  these  conditions 
be  fulfilled,  she  is  willing  to  relinquish  all  her  rights  upon 
the  property  left  by  her  husband,  and  share  it  equally 
among  her  sons." 

One  more  quotation  of  great  interest  summarises 
a  Lincoln  deed,  dated  1271,  and  preserved  in  the 
archives  of  Westminster  Abbey  : 

"  Judah  fir  Milo,  Abraham  fil'  Josce,  and  Jose?  fil' 
Joshua,  having  received  a  preliminary  '  God  speed  you  * 
from  a  minyan  of  ten  (no  important  religious  task  is 
performed  even  now  without  the  presence  of  ten  male 
adults),  undertook  the  functions  of  a  Beth-Din — a  tribunal 
of  three — to  arrange,  determine  and  attest  the  following 
transaction  between  Benjamin  fil'  Joec  Yeehiel  on  the 
one  part,  and  Belle-Assez,  the  daughter  of  the  '  Rav  ' 
Benedict,  on  the  other.  [This  is  the  Jewess  whose 
calamitous  fate  is  mentioned  above,  and  her  father  is 
Master  Benedict,  son  of  Master  Moses,  also  already  referred 
to.] 


32     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

"  Belle-Assez  undertakes  to  marry  her  daughter  to 
Aaron  the  son  of  Benjamin,  giving  as  a  wedding  gift  to  the 
young  bridegroom  20  marks  sterHng  and  a  precious 
volume  containing  the  whole  24  books  of  the  Hebrew 
Bible,  written  on  calf-skin,  properly  provided  with  punctu- 
ation, Targum,  Haphtaroth,  and  Masora.  Further  details 
of  this  book  are  appended.  The  young  folks  being  too 
youthful  to  marry  yet,  the  father  of  the  bridegroom 
undertakes  to  take  charge  of  the  book  and  to  keep  it  for 
the  '  use  of  the  children.'  Belle-Assez  also  delivers  into 
the  hands  of  the  father  these  20  marks  sterling,  to  be  lent 
out  at  interest  to  Gentiles,  until  Aaron  is  grown  up.  In 
lieu  of  this,  at  the  period  of  Aaron's  marriage  with  Judith, 
Benjamin  undertakes  to  give  them  £20  sterling,  and  more 
if  more  has  accrued  out  of  the  original  20  marks  by  way 
of  interest  in  the  meanwhile.  Out  of  this  sum  also,  he  is 
to  provide  both  bride  and  bridegroom  with  wedding 
apparel  befitting  their  station,  both  Sabbath  and  week-day 
clothing,  and  to  make  the  wedding  feast,  all  out  of  the 
same  proceeds.  He  has  to  put  forth  no  further  claim  on 
Belaset,  the  mother. 

"  The  wedding  is  arranged  to  take  place  in  the  month 
of  Adar  (end  of  February),  1275,  four  years  later,  unless 
some  impediment  arise,  some  impediment  publicly  well 
known.  If  such  difficulty  occur,  the  nuptials  are  to  take 
place  within  one  month  after  the  lapse  of  such  impediment. 
Benjamin  mortgages  all  his  chattels  and  property,  real 
and  personal,  as  a  guarantee  that  he  will  perform  his  part 
of  the  covenant.  Should  the  affair  not  proceed  prosper- 
ously, Benjamin  refusing  at  a  future  date  to  marry  his 
son,  he  is  to  restore  the  precious  volume  or  to  retain  it  at 
his  pleasure,  giving  6  marks  for  it  in  exchange.  With 
regard  to  the  20  marks,  Benjamin  is  to  be  believed  on 
oath  as  to  what  he  might  have  gained  by  them  in  the 
course  of  time,  and  undertakes  to  refund  one  half  of  the 
amount,  reserving  the  other  half  to  himself.  The  parties 
each  and  either,  then  enter  into  a  solemn  compact  and 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  THE  JEWS  88 

oath  of  the  law,  holding  a  sacred  emblem  in  their  hands, 
and  swear  to  perform  their  respective  shares  of  the  cove- 
nant. They  thereupon  place  a  partnership  deposit  or 
fine  in  the  hands  of  the  Beth-Din,  amounting  to  IOO5. 
sterling,  with  the  following  undertaking.  Should  Aaron 
ever  refuse  to  marry  Judith  and  settle  on  her  £100,  '  as 
is  the  custom  of  the  isle,'  or  should  the  father  refuse  his 
consent  to  the  match,  the  deposit  is  to  go  absolutely  to 
the  mother  of  the  jilted  bride,  or  vice  versa  she  is  to  lose 
it,"  etc. 

The  form  of  taking  the  oath  may  be  noted  here 
and  in  other  cases.  "  Both  the  individuals  (to  quote 
from  another  Memorandum  of  Evidence)  respectively 
holding  a  Scroll  of  the  Law  in  their  arms  swear  that 
they  will  be  true  and  faithful  to  each  other." 

It  is  not,  however,  to  be  expected  that  we  should 

find  many  references  to  the  religious  life  of  the  Pre- 

Expulsion  Jews  in  such  records  as  remain  of  those 

times.     The  Exchequer  Rolls  speak  chiefly  of  financial 

dealings  ;    the  Chronicles  tell  of  outward  historical 

events.    No  Jewish  diarist  or  letter-writer  has  left  us 

a    contemporary    account    of    internal    and    familiar 

affairs.     Further,  it  used  to  be  stated  that  no  liturgical 

manuscript  remained  to  tell  us  of  the  local  ritual  in 

the  Synagogue  services  ;   but  fortunately,  a  few  years 

ago  Dr.  Kaufmann  recognised  the  long-sought  Siddur 

(Prayer-book)  of  England  in  a  w'cll-known   MS.  at 

Leipzic.     This  small  parchment  volume  was  compiled 

by  Jacob  ben  Jehuda  of  London  in  1287,  three  years 

before   the   Expulsion ;     it   was   a   compendium   of 

Ritual  Law,  etc.,  and  was  entitled  The  Tree  of  Life.    It 

was  found  to  contain  the  old  Anglo-Jewish  Ritual,  and 

has  been  described  in  great  detail  by  Dr.  Kaufmann  in 


34     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

volume  iv.  of  the  Jewish  Quaiierly  Review.  The 
Prayer-book  is  generally  in  aceord  with  the  contem- 
porary French  Form  of  Service,  though  there  are 
various  points  of  independence  and  divergence.  It 
may  be  noticed  that  in  a  poetical  addition  to  the 
Seder  Evening  Service  in  this  Anglo-Jewish  com- 
pilation, the  author  has  added  a  stanza  in  which  he 
introduces  his  own  name,  Jacob,  acrostically. 

It  is  of  interest  to  remark,  that  in  a  show-case  of 
the  Library  of  Pembroke  College,  Cambridge,  may  be 
seen  a  leaf  from  a  copy  of  this  twelfth-century  English 
Siddur,  to  which  attention  has  been  drawn  by  the 
Rev.  Moses  Abrahams.  The  MS.  occurs  in  the 
binding  of  a  Latin  treatise,  which  formerly  belonged 
to  the  Abbey  of  Bury  St.  Edmunds — from  which 
town  the  Jews  were  expelled  by  Abbot  Samson  in  the 
year  1190.  Even  in  this  fragment  there  are  certain 
variations  from  contemporary  uses  across  the  Channel ; 
a  rubric,  for  instance,  implying  the  custom  of  "  falling 
on  the  face,"  occurs  in  part  of  the  service  on  the  Day 
of  Atonement. 

The  ecclesiastical  connexion  of  the  Jews  of  England 
with  their  co-religionists  in  France  is  curiously 
illustrated  by  an  event  in  the  life  of  David  of  Oxford, 
a  well-known  Jew  of  the  thirteenth  century.  He  had 
divorced  his  wife  Muriel,  and  that  lady,  failing  to 
find  redress  in  England,  appealed — with  the  approval 
of  some  prominent  citizens — to  the  Paris  Consistory. 
But  David  obtained  two  writs  from  the  English  civil 
authorities  restraining  certain  "  Masters  of  the  Law  '-* 
from  taking  any  proceedings  against  himself,  and 
ordering  the  Jews  who  had  moved  in  the  matter  "  to 
appear  before  the  Archbishop  of  York  and  others  of 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE  OF  THE  JEWS  85 

the  King's  Council,  to  show  cause  why  they  sent  to 
France  and  to  the  Jews  of  France  to  hold  a  chapter 
concerning  the  Jews  of  England  ;  and  the  Justices 
assigned  to  the  custody  of  the  Jews  were  ordered  not 
to  suffer  David  of  Oxon  to  be  coerced  by  the  Jews  to 
take  or  hold  any  woman  to  wife  except  at  his  own 
free  will." 

Although,  as  has  been  said,  we  seldom  meet  with 
contemporary  allusions  to  the  religious  proceedings  of 
the  Pre-Expulsion  Jews,  yet  that  there  was  now  and 
again  a  stirring  among  their  ecclesiastical  leaders  may 
be  illustrated  by  the  following  extract  from  a  Papal 
letter  (given  in  the  Catalogue  of  Papal  Registers,  I. 
p.  491,  and  dated  at  the  close  of  the  year  1286),  which 
reads  as  follows :  "  Mandate  issued  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  and  his  suffragans  to  oppose  by 
inhibitions  and  sj^iritual  penalties,  by  sermons  and 
other  means,  the  books  commonly  called  Thalamud, 
which  the  Jews  of  England  are  putting  forth  as  of 
greater  authority  than  the  law  of  Moses,  to  the  injury 
of  the  faithful  and  the  apostacy  of  the  converts  from 
Judaism."  The  like  mandate  was  sent  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York  and  his  suffragans. 

Readers  of  Mediasval  Jewish  history  will  remember 
that  on  several  occasions  earlier  during  the  thirteenth 
century,  as  well  as  at  somewhat  later  dates,  public 
disputations  were  held  in  France  and  in  Spain  in 
connexion  with  the  Talmud  ;  and  that  various  con- 
demnatory edicts  were  issued  by  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities. 


CHAPTER  VI 

DOMUS    CONVERSORUM 

Quite  early  in  Anglo- Jewish  history,  efforts  at  conver- 
sion were  made  both  by  voice  and  by  pen.  Fortunately 
the  coarse  tone  introduced  into  such  controversy  by 
William  Rufus  (to  which  allusion  has  already  been 
made)  was  more  than  balanced  by  the  geniality  and 
courtesy  shown  by  Gilbert  Crispin  of  Westminster 
Abbey,  whose  letter  to  Archbishop  Anselm  (before 
109G)  introducing  his  Disputation  of  a  Jew  with  a 
Christian  about  the  Christian  Faith  was  written  in  as 
friendly  a  spirit  as  was  the  treatise  itself.  Fortunately 
also  the  Jewish  response  to  the  conversations  was 
likewise  courteous  and  fair.  A  letter  from  the  Arch- 
bishop himself  about  the  treatment  of  a  convert  is 
equally  pleasant.  Another  treatise — Contra  Perfidiam 
Judceorum — composed,  one  hundred  years  later,  by 
Peter  of  Blois,  was  not  so  attractive ;  but  perhaps  this 
is  not  surprising  when  it  is  pointed  out  by  the  Rev. 
Michael  Adler  (in  his  excellent  account  of  the  Jews  in 
Canterbunj)  that  the  writer  had  been  involved  in 
financial  transactions  with  those  whom  he  attacks. 
Readers  of  the  somewhat  legendary  stoiy  of  the 
origins  of  the  University  of  Cambridge  will  remember 
that  it  was  this  same  Peter  Blaesensis  who,  "  in  his 

36 


r.    "■ 


C   5 


a: 


DOMUS  CONVERSORUM  87 

additamcnt  to  the  history  of  Ingulphus,"  gives  an 
account  of  the  alleged  lectures  given  at  Cottenham, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  by  Joffred, 
Abbot  of  Croyland,  and  Gislebcrt  a  fellow-monk. 
*'  The  preaching  of  the  latter  was  chiefly  directed 
against  the  Jews,  and  by  his  means  great  numbers  of 
those  who  dwelt  at  Cambridge  and  thereabouts  were 
converted." 

Passing  to  the  other  University,  we  read  that, 
when  the  Dominicans  came  to  Oxford  in  1221,  they 
established  themselves  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Jewish 
colony  there.  Now  it  happened  that,  in  1222,  a 
certain  deacon  under  romantic  circumstances  had 
embraced  the  faith  of  Abraham,  and,  having  been 
ecclesiastically  degraded,  had  been  committed  to 
the  secular  power  and  burnt  (as  Professor  Maitland 
reminded  us  in  a  characteristic  essay).  The  Domini- 
cans keenly  threw  themselves  into  an  attempt  to 
convert  their  Jewish  neighbours,  and  so  successful 
are  they  said  to  have  been,  that  a  home  for  the  reception 
of  converts  was  opened  in  Fish  Street,  on  the  site  of 
the  present  Town  Hall.  An  engraving  of  this  Domus 
Conversorum  (which  building  was  taken  down  about 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century)  is  here  re- 
produced from  a  plate  in  Skelton's  Oxonia  Antiqua. 

It  may  be  added  that  some  few  years  previously, 
in  1213,  as  we  learn  from  Stowe's  Chronicles,  a  hospital 
for  Jewish  converts  had  been  opened  by  Richard, 
Prior  of  Bermondsey,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  his 
monastery. 

In  the  year  1232,  a  more  celebrated  and  permanent 
Domus  Conversorum  was  founded  by  Henry  III.  in 
New  Street  (now  Chancery  Lane)  in  London.    Later 


38     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

on  the  King  assigned  700  marks  yearly  for  the 
sustenance  therein  of  converts  from  Judaism  to 
Christianity.  The  Foundation  Charter  is  given  in 
Hohnshed ;  members  were  soon  received ;  later  on 
a  custos  (warden  or  keeper)  was  appointed,  and  the 
home  thus  established  was  carried  on  (as  we  shall  see) 
for  many  centuries.  The  history  of  the  building  and 
its  inmates  after  the  Expulsion  will  be  detailed  in  a 
subsequent  chapter. 

It  may  be  stated  that  elaborate  accounts  of 
this  Domus  Conversorum  have  been  written  by  Mr. 
W.  J.  Hardy  in  his  Rolls  Court,  by  Mr.  C.  T.  Martin 
in  the  first  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Jewish 
Historical  Society  of  England,  and  by  the  Rev.  Michael 
Adler  in  the  fourth  volume  of  the  same  publications  ; 
as  well  as  by  Mr.  Lucien  Wolf  in  the  Anglo- Jewish 
Historical  Exhibition  Papers. 

The  names  of  many  of  the  converts  who  were 
inmates  of  the  Inn  from  its  foundation  in  1232  to  the 
Expulsion  in  1290  may  be  seen  in  the  above-mentioned 
volumes  ;  a  long  list  of  others  is  given  by  Prynne, 
and  a  still  longer  roll  might  be  compiled  from  the 
Patent  Rolls,  the  Close  Rolls,  and  other  documents. 
And  this  is  the  more  remarkable,  because  such 
conversion  involved  the  forfeiture  of  the  possessions, 
or  the  greater  part  thereof,  of  those  who  went  over ; 
and  because  (as  again  may  be  noted  from  various 
records)  their  fellow-Jews  greatly  resented  the  change. 

Among  the  converts  perhaps  the  most  conspicuous 
was  Elias  le  Eveskc,  the  fourth  of  the  Arch-Presbytei-s. 
He  was  received  into  the  Christian  Church  in  1259  ; 
but  this  was  two  years  after  he  had  been  deprived  of 
his  office.    His  property  was  forfeited,  and,  for  a 


DOMUS  CONVERSORUM  89 

consideration,  assigned  by  the  King  to  Master  Elias, 
the  son  of  Master  Moses.  Matthew  of  Paris,  the 
historian,  gives  an  extraordinary  account  of  his 
conversion  ;  and  records  a  confession  which  he  is 
said  to  have  made,  and  which,  it  is  much  to  be  hoped, 
is  not  true. 

The  same  chronicler,  by-the-by,  in  a  MS.  preserved 
at  Corpus  Christi  College,  Cambridge,  accompanies 
his  description  of  the  church  attached  to  the  Domus 
Conversorum  by  a  drawing  probably  from  his  own 
hand. 

Besides  those  thus  specially  housed  in  this  London 
establishment,  we  read  that  "  there  being  many 
Jewish  converts  in  England  for  whom  the  King  by 
reason  of  his  wars  had  not  provided  sufficient  main- 
tenance, he  (Henry  III.)  thereupon,  out  of  his  Christian 
care  to  support  them,  issued  these  ensuing  writs  to 
the  Abbots,  Priors,  and  Converts  of  most  religious 
Houses  through  England,  to  entertain  and  receive  one 
or  more  of  them  for  two  years,  and  to  allow  them  a 
daily  pension  or  Corrody  not  exceeding  such  a  sum  ; 
wherein  the  names  of  each  male  and  female  Jewish 
convert  sent  to  every  house  are  thus  recorded  in  the 
Fine  Rolls  of  this  year  (1255)."  See  the  Fines  Rolk 
39  Hen.  III.  (m.  13  d.,  etc.),  where  the  names  of  nearly 
250  such  converts  are  detailed. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   EXPULSION  OF  THE   JEWS   (1290) 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  the  Jews  were  expelled 
from  England  by  Edward  I.  in  the  year  1290.  It 
may,  however,  be  well  to  give  a  more  detailed  account 
of  that  remarkable  historical  event,  and,  having 
recorded  the  facts,  to  make  some  comments  thereon. 
These  are  the  facts.  In  the  summer  of  1290, 
Edward  issued  an  order  that  all  Jews  should  leave 
the  kingdom  by  All  Saints'  Day  (November  1). 
The  King  made  proclamation  in  a  series  of  writs 
addressed  to  the  sheriffs  of  various  counties,  com- 
manding that  no  one  should  presume  to  hurt  them, 
or  take  from  them  those  goods  which  he  had  allowed 
them  to  keep  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  furnish  them 
with  a  gTiard  that  might  secure  their  passage  to 
London,  in  order  for  transportation  ;  provided  like- 
wise, that,  before  their  removal,  they  returned  all 
their  pledges,  to  such  as  were  willing  to  redeem  them. 
Special  safeguards  were  also  granted  to  individual 
Jews.  Other  writs  were  issued  to  the  authorities  of 
the  Cinque  Ports,  commanding  them  to  treat  them 
civilly,  and  to  be  moderate  in  freightage  fees,  etc. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  majority  of  the  Jews  seem  to 
have  arranged  their  departure  for  St.  Denys's  Day, 

40 


THE  EXPULSION   OF  THE  JEWS   (1290)      41 

October  9.  The  number  of  those  who  were  thus 
banished  from  the  realm  is  variously  said  to  be  from 
15,000  to  17,000 ;  the  Florcs  Historice,  a  work  attributed 
to  Matthew  of  Paris,  is  more  definite,  asserting 
precisely  that  10,511  Jews  were  expelled. 

Madox,  in  his  History  of  the  Exchequer,  says  that 
"  by  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  (which  was  then 
commonly  called  exUium  Judceorum)  many  escheats 
both  of  lands  and  chattels  came  into  the  King's  hands." 
Various  Chests,  or  Archce,  containing  deeds  and 
documents,  were  forwarded  by  the  sheriffs  to  West- 
minster, where  some  of  them  may  still  be  seen  in  the 
Triforium  of  the  south  transept  of  the  Abbey  (the 
Star  Chamber) ;  while  at  the  Record  Office  and  in  the 
British  Museum  (among  the  Lansdowne  Manuscripts) 
may  be  found  copies  of  writs  and  inquisitions  as  to 
the  escheats  mentioned  above,  and  as  to  grants  made 
by  the  King  to  various  recipients.  The  late  Sir 
Lionel  Abrahams  had  an  excellent  paper  on  the 
Condition  of  the  Jews  at  the  Time  of  their  Expulsion  in 
1290,  with  detailed  and  interesting  records  of  their 
bonds  in  money  and  coin  and  wool,  of  their  houses  and 
lands,  of  their  synagogues,  and  so  on. 

One  incident  in  connexion  with  the  Expulsion 
shows  how,  in  spite  of  the  royal  proclamations  for 
the  safeguarding  of  the  exiles,  popular  care  was  not 
so  conspicuous.  "  The  grievous  story  (says  Tovey) 
is  given  by  my  Lord  Coke.  He  says  that  the  richest 
of  the  Jewes  having  imbark'd  themselves,  with  their 
Treasure,  in  a  tall  Ship  of  great  Burthen ;  when  it 
was  under  Sail  and  gotten  down  the  Thames,  towards 
the  Mouth  of  the  River,  beyond  Quinborough,  the 
Master  of  it,  confederating  with  some  of  the  Mariners, 


42     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

invented  a  Stratagem  to  destroy  them.  And  to 
bring  the  same  to  pass,  commanded  to  cast  Anchor, 
and  rode  at  the  same  time  till  the  Ship,  at  low  Water, 
lay  upon  the  Sands  ;  and  then,  pretending  to  walk  on 
Shore  for  his  health  and  Diversion,  invited  the  Jews  to 
go  along  with  him ;  which  they,  nothing  suspecting, 
readily  consented  to;  and  continu'd  there  till  the 
Tide  began  to  come  in  again  :  which  as  soon  as  the 
Master  perceiv'd,  he  privily  stole  away,  and  was 
again  drawn  up  into  the  Ship,  as  had  been  before 
concerted.  But  the  Jews,  not  knowing  the  Danger, 
continu'd  to  amuse  themselves  as  before.  Till  at 
length,  observing  how  fast  the  Tide  came  in  upon  them, 
they  crowded  all  to  the  Ship  Side,  and  call'd  out  for 
Help.  When  he,  like  a  Profane  Villain,  instead  of 
giving  them  Assistance,  scoffingly  made  Answer  that 
they  ought  rather  to  call  upon  Moses,  by  whose  Conduct 
their  Fathers  past  thro'  the  Red  Sea,  and  who  was  still 
able  to  deliver  them  out  of  those  rageing  Floods  which 
came  in  upon  them  :  and  so,  without  saying  any 
more,  leaving  them  to  the  Mercy  of  the  Waves,  they 
all  miserably  perished.  But  the  Fact  coming,  som.e- 
how  or  other,  to  be  known,  the  Miscreants  were  after- 
wards try'd  for  it,  by  the  Justices  Itinerant  in  Keni^ 
convicted  of  Murder,  and  hang'd." 

Across  the  Channel,  the  Exiles  who  reached  the 
Continent  are  lost  sight  of  ;  though  in  a  Paris  Tallage 
Roll,  dated  1294,  may  be  noted  the  names  of  Bonami 
lenglois,  Jovin  lenglois,  Mosse  lenglois  and  Rose 
lenglishe  {Revue  des  etudes  juives,  No.  1). 

Such  are  the  ultimate  facts  of  the  Expulsion  ;  but 
much  discussion  has  arisen  as  to  the  motives  which 
led  to  this  momentous  movement.    Some  tune  ago 


THE  EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS  (1290)     43 

there  was  a  controversy  between  Dr.  Adlcr  and 
Goldwin  Smith,  the  professor  asserting  that  the 
Jews  were  banished  in  consequence  of  the  people 
having  found  the  oppression  of  their  usurers  in- 
tolerable ;  while  the  Chief  Rabbi  said  that  religious 
fanaticism  was  the  primary  cause  of  their  expatriation. 
Lately  a  young  lawyer  in  America,  bearing  an  honoured 
name — Mr.  Frank  Schechter — argued  that  they 
were  expelled  simply  as  Jews,  Edward  I.  brutally 
discarding  a  diminishing  resource,  as  he  knew  that 
other  usurers  were  at  hand.  This  was  in  opposition  to 
the  "  equality-theory  "  of  the  distinguished  veteran, 
Dr.  Joseph  Jacobs,  who  maintained  that  the  King 
banished  the  Jewish  usurers  by  a  self-denying  ordi- 
nance in  the  interests  of  religion  and  political 
science. 

The  question  is  really  very  complicated,  for  not 
only  did  the  religious  aspect  introduce  bigotry  and 
fanaticism  ;  and  not  only  did  the  economic  considera- 
tion bring  forward  the  subject  of  usury  ;  and  not  only 
was  the  constitutional  point  of  view  prominent,  as  to 
the  relationship  between  the  Crown,  the  Barons,  the 
local  authorities  and  the  Jews  ;  but  the  social  aspect, 
the  habits,  the  appearance,  and  so  on,  of  the  strangers 
in  the  land  have  to  be  noted. 

With  regard  to  the  King  himself,  his  training  and 
his  character  should  be  remembered  ;  his  father's 
outlook  from  the  financial  and  from  the  religious 
l^oints  of  view ;  the  dealings  of  his  mother,  Eleanor 
of  Provence,  whom  Bishop  Stubbs  called  "  the  steady 
enemy  "  of  the  Jews  ;  the  views  of  his  wife,  Eleanor 
of  Castile,  who  was  equally  inimical.  The  two 
royal   ladies   did   not    long    outlive   the  Expulsion, 

D 


44     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

Edward's  consort  dying  within  a  month  of  the 
exile,  and  his  mother  passing  away  within  eight  or 
nine  months  of  that  event. 

Reference  may  also  be  made  to  Simon  de  Montfort, 
the  uncle  and  tutor  of  Edward  I.,  who  was  as  relentless 
to  the  Jews  as  his  father  had  been  to  the  Albigensian 
heretics  at  an  earlier  date.  This  nobleman,  as  Lord 
of  Leicester,  had  issued  in  the  year  1253  a  j^roelamation 
to  that  borough,  saying  :  "To  all  who  may  hear  or 
see  the  present  page,  health  in  the  Lord !  Know  all 
of  you  that  I,  for  the  good  of  my  soul  and  the  souls 
of  my  ancestors  and  successors,  have  granted,  and  by 
this  my  present  charter  have  confirmed,  on  behalf  of 
me  and  my  heirs  for  ever,  to  my  burgesses  of  Leicester 
and  their  heirs,  that  no  Jew  or  Jewess  in  my  time, 
or  in  the  time  of  my  heirs  to  the  end  of  the  world, 
shall  inhabit,  or  remain,  or  obtain  a  residence  in 
Leicester,"  etc. 

It  may  be  added  that  the  renowned  Bishop 
Grosseteste  (who  had  been  Archdeacon  of  Leicester), 
hearing  that  there  was  a  likelihood  of  this  charter 
being  altered,  wrote  favouring  its  continuance. 

There  had  been  many  previous  examples  of  expul- 
sion in  various  parts,  and  of  threats  of  banishment. 
Three  times  the  Jews  had  been  expelled  from  France  ; 
Queen  Eleanor  (Dowager)  had  banished  the  Jews  from 
her  dower-town  of  Cambridge,  etc.,  m  1275  (in  which 
year,  by-the-by,  there  was  a  menace  of  a  general 
expulsion).  Edward  I.  had  himself  banished  the 
Jews  from  Guienne,  when  he  "  took  the  Cross  "  for 
the  second  time.  In  1286  the  Israelites  in  England 
only  escaped  banishment  by  paying  a  heavy  fine. 

That  Parliament  acquiesced  in  the  King's  action 


THE  EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS   (1290)     45 

is  shown  by  the  grants  of  "  fifteenths  "  and  "  tenths  " 
which  they  allowed  to  Edward. 

Varied,  therefore,  were  the  considerations  which 
formed  "  the  motives  "  of  King  Edward  I.  in  his 
expulsion  of  the  Jews  ;  but  his  orders  on  Jjehalf  of  the 
safe-conduct  of  the  exiles  certainly  stand  to  his  credit. 

It  may  be  remarked,  in  conclusion,  that  perhaps 
the  financial  needs  of  the  monarchy  led  to  the  political 
freedom  of  the  people,  and  this  in  its  turn  helped 
towards  the  re-admission  of  the  Jews  into  our  country. 


II 

THE  MIDDLE  PERIOD   OF  ANGLO- 
JEWISH  HISTORY 


CHURCH  FOR  CONVERTED  JEWS. 

(From  a  M:!.  of  Mitthew  Paris,  in  the  Library  of  Corpus  Christi 
College,  Cambridge.) 


48 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   DOMUS    CONVERSORUM   AFTER   THE   EXPULSION 

We  have  seen,  in  the  First  Part,  that  the  Domus 
Conversorum,  or  Convetis^  Inn^  was  estabUshcd  by 
King  Henry  IH.  in  the  year  1232,  its  site  oecupying 
part  of  the  present  Reeord  Ofliee.  During  the  more 
than  half  a  century  which  intervened  between  its 
foundation  and  the  Expulsion  of  the  Jews  in  1290,  a 
number  of  converts  resided  within  its  precincts ; 
while  at  the  date  just  mentioned  about  eighty  of  them 
were  in  receipt  of  the  royal  bounty,  which  amounted 
to  l\d.  a  day  for  each  man  and  Id.  for  a  woman. 

The  Institution  did  not  cease  at  the  date  of  the 
Banishment,  nor  even  at  the  death  of  the  last  of  the 
occupants  of  that  period  (which  death,  by-the-by,  that 
of  Claricia  of  Exeter,  did  not  occur  till  the  year  1356), 
but  was  continued  down  the  centuries.  We  shall  see 
that  converted  Jews  were  from  time  to  time  admitted 
into  the  Inn,  and  that  this  was  always  the  case  until 
after  the  Re-settlement,  although  now  and  then  the 
inmates  were  very  few  and  for  one  or  two  periods 
there  was  no  one  in  residence.  It  is  true  that  the 
Court  took  some  interest  in  the  converts  (as  is  evinced 
from  the  fact  that  the  Christian  names  of  a  number  of 
them — Edward,  Eleanor,  Isabella,  Henry,  Elizabeth, 

40 


50      HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

etc. — tell  of  royal  sponsorship) ;  but  something  of 
the  long  survival  was  perhaps  due  to  the  number  of 
officials — the  warden,  the  two  chaplains  (with  at 
times  two  convert  chajDlains),  the  clerk,  etc.  The 
wardenship  was  afterwards  joined  with  the  Master- 
ship of  the  Rolls,  and  was  at  times  occupied  by 
distinguished  men — such  as  William  de  Ayremine 
(1317-1324;),  afterwards  Bishop  of  Norwich  ;  Thomas 
Cromwell  (1532-1540) ;  not  to  mention  here  modern 
Masters  of  the  Rolls. 

With  regard  to  the  history  of  the  converts  them- 
selves, there  is  fortunately  an  abundance  of  detail — 
in  the  Close  and  Patent  Rolls,  in  Rymer's  Fcedera, 
and  other  records,  as  well  as  (since  1331)  "  in  a  most 
valuable  series  of  documents  that  pertain  exclusively 
to  the  House  of  Converts  [Exchequer  Accounts)  and 
that  are  carefully  preserved  in  their  original  skin 
pouches  at  the  Rolls  Office."  These  words  are 
quoted  from  Mr.  Adler,  who  has  carefully  examined 
these  documents  and  described  them  in  the  able 
paper  before  mentioned.  They  show  the  orders  of 
the  King  for  the  admission  of  a  convert,  sometimes 
adding  personal  details  of  an  interesting  nature ;  the 
statement  of  the  annual  expenses  of  the  keeper  (or 
Master  of  the  Rolls) ;  and  a  large  number  of  the  annual 
receipts  given  by  the  converts  for  their  pension  of 
£2  55.  lid. 

There  are  also  records  of  several  complaints  made 
by  the  inmates,  and  of  official  inquiries  held.  In  the 
very  year  of  the  Expulsion,  for  instance,  there  was  an 
appointment  as  to  the  collection  of  the  chevage,  or 
poll-tax,  levied  upon  the  English  Jews,  from  the  age 
of  twelve,  for  the  support  of  the  converts  in  the  Domus, 


DOMUS   CONVERSORUM  AFTER  EXPULSION     51 

This  source  of  revenue,  of  course,  failed  with  the 
Expulsion.  The  next  year  (1280),  certain  Rules  for 
the  government  of  the  House  were  issued.  In  1308 
Commissioners  were  appointed  to  inquire  into  affairs, 
and  a  report  was  made,  which  showed  tliat  in  1280 
there  had  been  97  inmates  ;  that  17  men  and  17 
women  had  died,  while  4  men  and  8  women  had 
disappeared. 

Mr.  Adler  gives  the  names  of  most  of  those  who 
were  connected  with  the  Domus ;  some  of  their 
stories  are  interesting.  Some  who  were  elected  do 
not  seem  to  have  gone  into  residence,  or  to  have 
remained  for  more  than  a  short  time  ;  among  them 
certain  Spanish  Jews.  Near  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  a  Jewess  was  admitted  who  is  styled  Elizabeth 
daughter  of  Rabbi  Moses,  episcopus  Judceorum  (or 
levesque  des  Jues  de  France  et  dalmaigne) ;  but  this 
title  is  doubtless  a  clerk's  error  for  the  surname 
Bishop ;  she  afterwards  married  a  tailor  named 
David  Pole,  continuing,  however,  to  reside  in  the 
Home.  In  1413,  to  take  another  example,  Henry 
of  Woodstock  joined  the  five  inmates,  bringing  with 
him  his  two  sons,  one  of  whom  (Martin)  lived  in  the 
Domus  for  no  less  than  fifty-five  years.  We  must  pass 
on  to  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  whose  days — 
in  the  year  1578 — there  entered  one  Jchooda  Menda, 
from  the  Barbary  States.  He  had  been  living  in 
London  for  some  few  years,  and  had  been  baptized 
in  1577  in  one  of  the  City  churches  ;  at  the  ceremony 
Nathanael  IMenda  (the  assumed  Christian  name  will 
be  noticed)  "  read  aloud  in  Spanish  a  statement  of 
the  reasons  which  had  led  him  to  accept  Christianity. 
Among  a  long  array  of  arguments,  he  pointed  out 


52     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS   IN  ENGLAND 

that  only  in  a  Protestant  country  like  England  was 
it  possible  to  attract  Jews  to  the  Church,  as  the 
idolatry  existing  in  other  lands  was  a  hindrance  to 
their  desire  for  baptism.  The  baptizing  of  Menda 
was  followed  by  the  delivery  of  a  powerful  sermon  by 
John  Foxe,  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Martyrs.  The 
sermon,  which  was  in  Latin,  must  have  occupied  at 
least  four  hours  in  delivery,"  and  was  afterwards 
repeated  privately  to  Sir  Francis  Walsingham. 
English  versions  of  Menda's  confession  and  of  Foxe's 
sermon  were  subsequently  published.  This  convert 
resided  in  Chancery  Lane  for  some  thirty  years. 

Another  important  inmate  of  the  Domus  Con- 
versorum  was  Philip  Ferdinandus,  a  Polish  Jew,  who 
had  been  converted  to  Roman  Catholicism,  and  had 
afterwards  become  a  Protestant.  He  for  a  while 
studied  and  taught  at  Oxford,  and  then  proceeded  to 
Cambridge  in  1596,  where  he  published  a  curious 
book,  Ilcec  sunt  verba  Del,  etc.,  containing  a  Latin 
version  of  the  613  Precepts  of  the  Mosaic  Law,  with 
extracts  from  Rabbinical  Literature.  Shortly  after- 
wards he  entered  the  Domus,  where  he  signed  his 
first  receipt  both  in  English  and  (punctuated)  Hebrew, 
adding  the  word  neophyta  in  Greek  characters.  His 
friend  Joseph  Scaliger  subsequently  obtained  for  him 
an  appointment  at  Ley  den.  An  inmate  who  entered 
in  1603,  Elizabeth  Furdinando,  may  have  been  the 
widow  of  Philip  who  died  in  1600.  Jacob  Wolfgang 
was  another  Hebrew  scholar  who  resided  in  Chancery 
Lane  early  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

The  records  of  the  Home  are  scanty  from  this 
date  onwards,  though  there  are  references  to  one  or 
two  petitioners  ;    and  so  late  as  the  year  1717  a 


DOMUS   CONVERSORUM  AFTER   EXPULSION     53 

converted  Jew,  Henry  Cotingo,  made  application  for 
a  grant  from  the  Master  of  the  Rolls. 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  allude  to  the  demolition 
of  the  Domus  Conversorum,  the  houses  and  the  chapel, 
nor  to  refer  to  the  new  buildings  of  the  Record  Office 
in  Chancery  Lane.  The  yearly  grants  were  trans- 
ferred to  the  salaries  of  officials  of  the  Rolls  chapel. 
When  Sir  John  (afterwards  Lord)  Romilly  became 
Master  of  the  Rolls  in  1851,  his  patent  of  appointment 
still  granted  him  "  the  custody  of  House,  or  Hospital, 
of  Converts  "  ;  but  these  words  were  not  used  for  his 
successor,  Sir  George  Jessel,  in  1873,  otherwise  (as 
Mr.  Michael  Adlcr  remarks  with  a  quiet  smile)  "  we 
should  have  had  the  remarkable  paradox  of  a  Jew 
holding  the  position  of  Keeper  of  the  House  of  Con- 
verted Jews." 


CHURCH  FOR  CONVERTED  JEW8. 

(Ffom  a  MS.  of  Mattbew  Paris.) 


CHAPTER  II 

JEWS    IN   ENGLAND   DURING   THE   MIDDLE  PERIOD  ? 

The  heading  to  this  Section  is  purposely  queried.  It 
is  often  asserted  that  Jews  were  frequently  to  be 
found  in  England  between  the  Expulsion  and  the 
Return.  Mr.  Isaac  D'Israeli,  for  instance,  says,  in 
his  Genius  of  Judaism  :  "  My  researches  might  show 
that  they  were  not  unknown  in  this  country."  But 
while  the  writings  of  the  author  of  Curiosities  of 
Literature  are  always  interesting,  they  are  sometimes 
vague.  Other  writers  are  more  definite  ;  e.g.  Mr.  (now 
Sir)  Sidney  Lee,  in  his  paper  read  before  the  New 
Shakspere  Society,  and  Mr.  Lucien  Wolf,  in  that 
which  he  printed  in  connexion  with  the  Anglo- 
Jewish  Exhibition.  Their  instances  will  be  considered, 
and  wc  think  it  will  be  found  that  in  almost  every  case 
the  visitor  was  a  converted  Jew,  or  a  Crypto-Jew,  or 
was  disguised,  or  had  a  special  royal  permit.  Take 
the  example  of  Joachim  Gaunse,  about  whom  Dr. 
Israel  Abrahams  has  written  an  interesting  account 
in  Vol.  IV.  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Jewish  Historical 
Society.  He  was  engaged  for  some  years,  from  1581 
onwards,  as  a  mining  expert  at  Keswick  ;  but  no  one 
recognised  him  as  a  Jew.  Some  time  later,  however, 
we  learn  from  quite  other  sources  that  Gaunse  was  at 

54 


DURING  THE  MIDDLE  PERIOD?  55 

Bristol,  when  a  minister  there,  the  Rev.  Richard 
Curteys,  entered  into  conversation  with  him,  addressing 
him  in  Hebrew,  and  found  that  he  was  an  unconverted 
Jew.  Thereupon  he  was  taken  before  the  local 
magistrates,  and  by  them  sent  in  custody  to  the 
Lords  of  the  Privy  Council  in  London.  Now,  had  we 
only  the  set  of  papers  relating  to  Keswick,  we  should 
either  have  known  nothing  of  him  except  as  to  his 
scientific  abilities,  or  merely  the  fact  that  he  was  a 
Jew  might  somehow  or  other  have  subsequently  leaked 
out ;  but  the  other  documentary  evidence  shows  that 
the  accidental  discovery  of  his  religious  opinions  at 
once  led  to  his  arrest  and  removal. 

It  may  be  that,  in  some  of  the  other  cases  to 
which  attention  has  been  drawn  by  Mr.  Wolf  and 
other  writers,  if  the  full  circumstances  were  known, 
a  similar  or  a  more  drastic  method  might  have  been 
found  of  dealing  with  a  Jew  in  England. 

During  the  period  under  consideration — from  1290 
to  1656 — it  may  be  repeated  "  no  unconverted  Jew 
could  legally  enter  England." 

Let  us  turn  to  the  instances  which  have  been 
brought  forward.  Reference  need  not  again  be  made 
to  any  of  those  converted  Jews  who  were  admitted  into 
the  Domus  Conversorum,  except  to  notice  two  or 
three  cases  where  those  received  as  inmates  had 
already  been  living  in  England  for  some  time.  Such 
were  Johanna  and  her  daughter  Alice,  of  Dartmouth, 
who,  in  the  year  1409,  appeared  with  a  royal  order 
for  admission.  Mr.  Adler  admits  that  they  may  have 
been  landed  at  the  Devonshire  seaport.  Some 
again  are  said  to  have  been  absent  for  a  period  from 
the  Home ;    now,  in  the  case  of  one  such — Margery 


56      HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

of  Stamford — we  accidentally  learn  that  "  she  had  been 
very  ill,  and  unable  to  answer  to  her  name." 

Let  us  consider  the  cases  of  certain  medical  men. 
We  learn  from  the  Close  Rolls,  under  date 
December  10,  1309,  that  the  King  applied  to  John, 
Duke  of  Brabant,  husband  of  the  Princess  Margaret, 
requesting  that  Master  Elias,  a  Jew  dwelling  in  his 
land,  and  apparently  alluded  to  elsewhere  as  a 
physician,  that  "  he  may  come  to  England  to  the 
King,  at  the  desire  of  the  latter  to  speak  with  the 
King  concerning  his  affairs."  Again,  we  read  that, 
in  the  reign  of  Henry,  royal  permission  was  given  to 
certain  Jewish  doctors  to  visit  London,  to  attend  the 
Lady  Alice,  wife  of  Sir  Richard  Whittington,  the 
celebrated  Lord  Mayor.  And  so,  in  the  year  1410, 
an  Italian  Jew,  Elias  Sabot,  was  allowed  by  the  King 
to  practise  medicine  in  any  part  of  the  realm. 

These  royal  permits  to  medical  Jews  are  exceptions 
which  must  be  classed  by  themselves. 

A  MS.,  no  longer  in  existence,  asserted  that  six 
Jews  came  to  London  in  1310  to  obtain  a  revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Expulsion.  They  came  apparently 
under  the  wing  of  a  medical  man;  but  no  success 
seems  to  have  rewarded  the  effort. 

In  1320  we  read  that  a  tax  of  a  farthing  in  the 
pound  was  levied  on  all  benefices  in  the  Southern 
Ecclesiastical  Province  for  the  maintenance  of  a 
converted  Jew  M'ho  was  then  teaching  Hebrew  at 
Oxford,  the  Council  of  Vienne  having  decreed  that 
there  should  be  two  lectures  in  Hebrew,  etc.,  at  certain 
Universities.  Here  we  have  not  only  a  convert,  but 
one  sanctioned  by  ecclesiastical  and  educational 
authorities. 


DURING  THE  MIDDLE  PERIOD?  57 

To  take  a  financial  rumour.  It  is  asserted  that 
some  of  the  so-called  "  Lombard  "  money-lenders  in 
England  in  137G  were  Jews.  But  the  Commons  gave 
the  alarm  ! 

It  is  not  a  matter  of  surprise  that,  after  the  great 
expulsion  of  Jews  from  Spain  at  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  there  are  reports  of  the  arrival  of 
some  of  them  in  England.  But  in  any  case  they  would 
be  Marranos,  and  difficult  to  detect.  When  it  is  added 
that  "  they  built  synagogues  in  London,"  etc.,  it  is 
needless  to  discuss  the  rumours  any  further. 

The  report  that  Henry  VIII.  consulted  certain 
learned  Jews  in  connexion  with  the  divorce  is  not 
unlikely ;  and  the  converted  Jew,  Mark  Raphael, 
undoubtedly  accepted  the  royal  invitation  to  visit 
England. 

In  the  year  1550,  a  physician  named  Ferdinando 
Lopus,  who  is  said  by  the  chronicler  Wriothcsley  to 
have  been  a  Jew,  was  staying  in  London,  and  escaped 
punishment  for  an  offence  owing  to  Spanish  and  Court 
influence ;  but  he  was  forthwith  "  banished  from  the 
realms  of  England  for  ever." 

In  Elizabeth's  reign,  there  is  the  well-known 
instance  of  another  Dr.  Lopus,  or  Roderigo  Lopez, 
a  doctor  of  some  repute  in  London,  who  became,  in 
1586,  chief  physician  to  the  Queen.  He  was  some 
few  years  afterwards  accused  of  treason,  and  Coke, 
who  prosecuted,  characteristically  termed  him  "  a 
vile  Jew,"  etc.  On  the  scaffold,  he  declared  himself 
a  Christian  ;  though  his  widow,  Sarah  of  Antwerp, 
was  doubtless  a  Jewess. 

A  well-known  convert,  John  Emmanuel  Tremellius, 
was  welcomed  during  the  same  reign,  holding  among 


58     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS   IN  ENGLAND 

other  appointments  that  of  Regius  Professor  of 
Hebrew  at  Cambridge.  Sir  Phihp  Sidney,  in  his 
Apologie  for  Poetrie,  speaks  of  his  learning. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
there  arc  several  cases  of  Jewish  converts  being 
pensioned  in  England  ;  while  Mr.  Lucien  Wolf  has 
described  quite  a  colony  of  so-called  Spanish  Roman 
Catholics,  who  were  probably  Marranos  and  also 
doubtless  secretly  practised  the  Jewish  faith  in  London 
in  the  early  days  of  the  Commonwealth. 


APPENDIX  A 

THE   JEW  IN  ENGLISH    LITERATURE   (l) 

Not  the  least  interesting  of  the  nine  and  twenty  Pilgrims, 
who  set  out  from  the  Tabard  Inn  in  Southwark,  was  the 
Prioresse,  clepcd  JMadame  Eglentine — whom  Chaucer 
described  in  often-quoted  lines.  Her  Canterbury  Tale — 
which  does  not  need  to  be  retold  by  Dryden  or  by  Words- 
worth— transfers  a  Western  story  to  the  East ; — 

"  Ther  was  in  Asia,  in  a  great  citee, 
Amonges  Cristen  folk  a  Jewerie, 
Sustened  by  a  lord  of  that  contree. 
For  foule  usure,  and  luere  of  vilanie, 
Hateful  to  Crist,  and  to  His  Compagnie." 

The  poet  tells  us  of  a  "  litel  clergeon  "  attending  a 
song-school,  who,  when  only  "  seven  year  of  age,"  learns 
to  love  and  sing  "  O  alma  Redemptoris  mater  "  as  he 
passes  along  the  street. 

"  Our  firste  fo,  the  serpent  Satlianas, 
That  hath  in  Jowes  herte  his  waspes  nest," 

tempted  the  Jews  to  cut  the  throat  of  the  innocent,  and 
cast  him  into  a  pit.  Here,  however,  he  still  continues  to 
sing,  and  his  mother — "  this  neue  Rachel  " — hence  dis- 
covers the  body.  The  grain  which  the  Virgin  Mary  had 
placed  upon  his  tongue  having  been  removed,  the  child 
is  buried  "  in  a  tombe  of  marble  stones." 

The  last  stanza  is  addressed  to  "  yonge  Hew  "  ;   and 

59  E 


GO     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS   IN  ENGLAND 

so  we  are  brought  back  from  the  East  to  Lincoln  Minster, 
and  reminded  of  many  other  Ballads  about "  Little  St.  Hugh 
of  Lincoln." 

This  terrible  story  was  unfortunately  believed  by  the 
people,  and  was  told  in  rhyme — in  French  and  in  English 
— again  and  again.  Sometimes  it  was  styled  "  Sir 
Hew,"  sometimes  "  the  Jew's  Daughter." 

John  Gower,  the  friend  of  Chaucer,  in  his  Confessio 
Amantis  (lib.  vii.  3207,  etc.)  has  a  tale  entitled  "  The 
Jew  and  the  Pagan."  He  also  has  a  section  on  the 
"  Belief  of  the  Jews,"  while  he  gives  rhymed  versions  of 
the  "  Tale  of  Jephthah's  Daughter  "  and  the  story  of 
"  Saul  and  the  Witch."  Another  legend  which  took  the 
popular  imagination  and  which  was  not  limited  to  one 
locality  or  to  one  age,  was  that  of  The  Wandering  Jew. 
The  chroniclers  told  it  in  prose — Matthew  Paris,  for 
instance,  in  1228  gives  it  as  he  heard  it  from  an  Armenian 
bishop  who  visited  St.  Alban's ;  and  his  account,  as 
written  in  a  MS.  in  Corpus  Christi  College,  Cambridge,  is 
accompanied  by  a  sketch,  from  the  chronicler's  own  pen, 
of  Joseph  Cartaphilus,  as  the  Wanderer  was  then  called. 
Rhymesters  sang  of  him  in  ballads,  and  some  of  these 
printed  sheets  also  give  their  illustrations,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  collections  in  the  Pepys  Library  at  Magdalene 
College.  Webster  had  perhaps  been  reading  the  tract 
entitled  The  Wandering  Jew  telling  fortunes  to  English- 
men, when  he  chose  the  title  for  his  White  Devil. 
And  so,  Judffius  ille  immortalis  goes  on  and  on  down  to 
Wordsworth  and  Shelley,  where  he  appears  as  Ahasuerus, 
and  to  Marion  Crawford's  A  Roman  Singer.  "  C'est  le 
juif  errant  qui  passe,"  says  the  Pieardy  peasant,  when  a 
rushing  gale  wakes  his  children. 

But  we  must  return  to  the  Middle  Period. 

A  paper  read  before  the  New  Shakspere  Society  by 
Mr.  (now  Sir)  Sidney  Lee,  entitled  "  Elizabethan  England 
and  the  Jews,"  has  been  referred  to  in  the  last  section. 


APPENDIX  A  61 

It  treats  exhaustively  of  Marlowe's  Bardbhas  and  Shake- 
speare's Merchant  of  Venice,  and  the  predecessors  and  the 
successors  of  those  celebrated  dramas.  We  arc  reminded 
that  Stephen  Gosson,  as  early  as  1579,  refers  to  a  play 
called  The  Jew,  the  plot  of  which  represents  "  the 
greediness  of  worldly  choosers  and  the  bloody  minds  of 
usurers."  Edmund  Spenser,  writing  to  the  pedantic 
Gabriel  Harvey,  whom  he  honoured  with  his  friendship, 
signs  himself  "  he  that  is  fast  bound  unto  thee  in  more 
obligations  than  any  merchant  of  Italy  to  any  Jew  there." 
In  1581,  a  so-called  comedy,  entitled  The  Three  Ladies 
of  London,  by  Robert  Wilson,  introduces — not  un- 
favourably—  a  Jewish  creditor  named  Gerontus. 

We  come  now  to  Christopher  Marlowe's  The  Jew  of 
Malta,  written  about  1590.  It  is  not  necessary  here  to 
describe  this  well-known  play,  which  became  very  popular 
on  the  stage  and  on  the  bookstall.  Barabbas,  as  Sir 
Sidney  Lee  says,  is  "for  the  most  part  a  brutal  caricature"; 
and  his  daughter  Abigail,  though  accorded  the  traditional 
beauty,  has  not  the  charm  of  Jessica.  The  hero,  boasting 
of  Jewish  wealth,  names  some  of  his  co-religionists  ;  but  a 
hash  is  made  of  the  names,  "  Kirriah  Jairim,  the  great 
Jew  of  Greece,"  coming  first.  Doubtless  the  place-name, 
Kirjath  Jearim,  was  in  the  poet's  mind  ;  but  Hebrew 
names  were  ever  a  difficulty,  and  so  was  the  spelling 
thereof.  Just  as  Sir  Walter  Scott  (who  by-the-by  uses 
the  same  name  for  a  native  of  Lombardy)  speaks  of  "  Rabbi 
Jacob  hen  Tudela  "  in  Ivanhoe,  so  we  may  refer  to  Prynne, 
who  copying  Latin  records  naturally  makes  many  mistakes, 
and  referring  to  his  list  of  the  Jews  summoned  to  the 
so-called  Parliament  at  Worcester,  it  may  be  noted  that 
Tovey  remarks  thereon  :  "  There  are  about  a  hundred 
names  of  those  Persons  ;  but,  as  they  make  but  indifferent 
Musick,  I  shan't  repeat  'em." 

We  turn  to  Shakespeare's  Merchant  of  Venice,  which 
was  written  about  1597-8.  Again  it  is  not  necessary  to 
dwell  upon  the  drama  itself,  nor  to  refer  to  the  sources 


62     HISTORY   OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

to  which  the  great  author  is  supposed  to  be  indebted. 
Compared  with  Barabbas,  Shylock  is  human ;  while  his 
daughter  is  both  beautiful  and  engaging.  It  may  be  added, 
with  regard  to  Tlie  Jew  of  Malta  and  the  Merchant  of 
Venice,  that,  while  in  neither  case  is  the  Jew  likely  to  be 
popular,  yet  doubtless  prejudice  against  them  was  greatly 
intensified  by  the  get-up,  the  gestures  and  the  tones  of  the 
actors. 

In  various  plays,  at  about  this  period — such  as  Selimus, 
Machiavellus,  Jack  Drume^s  Entertainement,  etc. — there 
are  Jewish  characters  ;  and  in  still  more  there  are  inci- 
dental references  to  Jews.  Much  has  been  made,  for 
instance,  of  a  phrase  in  a  play,  published  in  1609,  called 
Every  Woman  in  Iter  Humour,  which  runs  :  "  You  may 
hire  a  good  suit  at  a  Jew's  or  a  broker's ;  it  is  a  common 
thing,  and  especially  among  the  common  people." 

It  may  be  added  that  in  Sir  Walter  Scott's  Kenilworth, 
chapter  xiii.,  there  is  an  account  of  how  Wayland  Smith 
buys  a  certain  ingredient  from  a  Jewish  chemist,  named 
Zacharias  Yoglan,  who  had  been  in  business  in  London 
for  some  thirty  years  before  the  date  referred  to  (c.  1575). 

With  regard  to  these  allusions — the  suit  at  the  Jew's 
and  the  ingredients  at  Yoglan's — it  may  be  remarked 
that  they  are  both  quotations  from  works  of  fiction,  and 
that  no  particular  attention  need  be  paid  to  them — for  it 
is  the  business  of  authors  to  supply  vivid  incidents  in  an 
apparently  casual  fashion.  Though  whether  Sir  Walter 
is  very  successful  in  the  language  which  he  puts  into  the 
mouth  of  liis  Jew,  including  such  oaths  as  "  Holy  Elias  !  '* 
and  "  Mcin  God  !  "  is  a  matter  of  question. 

If  attention  were  being  drawn  to  references  to  Jews 
in  religious  works  or  sacred  poems,  some  of  the  verses  in 
George  Herbert's  Temple  might  be  mentioned,  especially 
his  pathetic  lines  on  "  The  Jews." 

Has  it  been  noticed  that  a  special  edition  of  the 
Merchant  of  Venice  was  published  in  the  year  1652  ? 
What  was  the  reason  for  tins  issue  at  a  time  when  the 


APPENDIX  A  63 

flags  had  long  ceased  to  fly  over  the  theatres  on  the 
Bankside  ?  May  it  not  have  been  that  some  editor  or 
some  bookseller  who  objected  to  the  anticipated  re- 
admission  of  the  Jews  into  England  wished  to  revive  the 
prejudice  excited  by  the  Shylock  scenes  ?  To  that 
re-admission  we  now  turn. 


Ill 

THE  RETURN  AND  THE  RE-SETTLEMENT 
OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 


CHAPTER  I 

CROMWELL   AND   THE  JEWS 

We  now  commence  a  new  department  of  this  history. 
The  last  four  chapters  have  dealt  with  "  the  Middle 
Period,"  and  we  have  to  look  back  to  remember  the 
time  of  the  Expulsion  of  the  Jews. 

But  let  any  one  turn  to  the  Anglia  Judaica,  or  the 
History  and  Antiquities  of  the  Jews  in  England,  pub- 
lished in  the  year  1738  by  D'Blossiers  Tovey,  LL.D., 
and  Principal  of  New  Inn  Hall  in  Oxford  ;  a  work 
which,  in  spite  of  its  (unacknowledged)  indebtedness 
to  Prynne  and  others,  is  yet  of  much  interest,  and  of 
use  in  the  subject  with  which  we  are  dealing. 

There  it  will  be  noticed  that  on  one  and  the  same 
page,  viz.  p.  258,  the  author  passes — see  his  margin — 
from  Edward  I.  to  Oliver  Cromwell !  from  1290  to 
1648  I  more  than  three  and  a  half  centuries  ! 

During  that  period,  as  we  have  been  maintaining, 
no  unconverted  Jew  could  legally  enter  England. 
Certain  converts  were  admitted  and  even  housed  ; 
some  Jewish  medical  men  were  here,  as  elsewhere, 
exceptionally  treated  and  even  welcomed ;  some 
Marranos  and  other  Crypto-Jews  occasionally  are 
found  in  London  and  other  places  ;  a  Jew  may  have 
obtained  a  footing  for  a  while  disguised  and  incognito  ; 

67 


68     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

but  otherwise  there  was  a  barrier  always  existing 
from  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  till  the  second 
half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  from  the  reign  of 
Edward  I.  till  the  days  of  the  Commonwealth. 

Efforts  for  the  re-admission  of  the  Jews  were  now 
being  made  in  various  directions  :  there  was,  in  1649, 
a  Petition  from  two  Amsterdam  inhabitants  to 
Fairfax ;  many  of  the  Crypto-Jews  who  were  living 
in  London  were  anxious  to  throw  off  their  Roman 
Catholic  mask ;  and  so  on.  Oliver  Cromwell  was, 
of  course,  the  hope  of  the  advocates  of  the  Return, 
and  with  him  the  chief  power  rested.  There  are 
strange  rumours  as  to  the  glances  cast  towards  the 
Protector  by  the  Jews  ;  we  read,  for  instance,  in 
Raguenet's  Histoire  d'Oliver  Cromwell : — 

"  The  Asiatiek  Jews,  much  about  the  time  of  Manasseh's 
coming  into  England,  sent  hither,  likewise,  the  noted 
Rabbi  Jacob  ben  Azahel,  with  several  others  of  his 
nation,  to  make  private  inquiry  whether  Cromwell  was 
not  that  Messiah  whom  they  had  long  expected.  Which 
deputies,  upon  their  arrival,  pretending  other  business, 
were  several  times  indulged  the  favour  of  a  private 
audience  with  him.  And  as  one  of  them  proposed  buying 
the  Hebrew  books  and  manuscripts  belonging  to  the 
University  of  Cambridge,  in  order  to  have  an  opportunity, 
under  pretence  of  viewing  them,  to  inquire  among  his 
relatives  in  Huntingdonshire,  where  he  was  born,  whether 
any  of  his  ancestors  could  be  proved  of  Jewish  extraction." 

Another  report  was  that  the  Jews  had  made  an 
offer  to  purchase  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  and  the 
Bodleian.  These  rumours  were  doubtless  made  to 
prejudice  the  Jewish  cause — which,  as  we  shall  see, 
had  many  opponents. 


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p.  69 


CROMWELL  AND  THE  JEWS  69 

In  October,  1655,  a  distinguished  Jew,  Menasseh 
ben  Israel,  arrived  in  London  from  Amsterdam,  on 
the  invitation  of  Cromwell.  His  brother-in-law 
(David  Abarvanel)  Dormido,  an  important  Marrano, 
had  lately  paid  a  visit  to  England  and  presented 
certain  petitions  to  the  Protector.  Menasseh  also 
presented  a  petition  and  his  "  Humble  Addresses," 
advancing  reasons  for  the  re-admission  of  the  Jews. 
These  Cromwell  laid  before  the  Council  of  State  ; 
shortly  afterwards  recommending  the  calling  of  a 
Conference — to  which  were  appointed  a  number  of 
important  statesmen,  soldiers,  lawyers,  citizens  and 
divines.  The  Whitehall  Conference  met  on 
December  4,  1655 — and  included,  besides  Cromwell 
himself,  the  Lord  President  (Henry  Laurence), 
Major-Gencral  Lambert,  Sir  John  Glynne,  Lord  Chief 
Justice,  and  William  Steele,  Lord  Chief  Baron,  the 
Lord  Mayor  and  various  city  colleagues,  the  Master  of 
the  Charter  House,  with  some  distinguished  scholars 
from  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  and  several  well-known 
preachers.  The  lawyers  gave  their  opinion  that 
"  there  was  no  law  which  forbad  the  Jews'  return 
into  England  " ;  but  there  was  great  opposition — 
including  that  of  the  city  representatives.  Cromwell, 
at  length,  took  the  matter  into  his  own  hands,  and 
dismissed  the  Conference. 

Thomas  Carlyle's  description  of  this  Conference 
is  so  characteristic  of  that  writer,  that  it  must  be  given 
here,  even  at  the  risk  of  slight  repetition  : — 

"  Wednesday,  December  12th,  1655.  This  day  '  in  a 
wit hdra wing-room  at  Whitehall,'  presided  over  by  his 
Highness,  who  is  much  interested  in  the  matter,  was  held 
'a    Conference    concerning   the    Jews,'— of    which     the 


70      HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS   IN  ENGLAND 

modern  reader  too  may  have  heard  something.  Confer- 
ence, one  of  Four  Conferences,  pubHcly  held,  which  filled 
all  England  with  rumour  in  those  old  December  days,  but 
must  now  contract  themselves  into  a  point  for  us.  Highest 
official  Persons,  with  Lord  Chief  Baron,  Lord  Chief 
Justices,  and  chosen  Clergy  have  met  here  to  advise,  by 
reason,  Law-learning,  Scripture-prophecy,  and  every 
source  of  light  for  the  human  mind,  concerning  the  proposal 
of  admitting  Jews,  with  certain  privileges  as  of  alien- 
citizens,  to  reside  in  England.  They  were  banished 
near  Four-hundred  years  ago  :  shall  they  now  be  allowed 
to  reside  and  trade  again  ?  The  Proposer  is  '  Manasseh 
Ben  Israel,'  a  learned  Portuguese  Jew  of  Amsterdam;  who, 
being  stirred  up  of  late  years  by  the  great  things  doing  in 
England,  has  petitioned  one  and  the  other.  Long  Parlia- 
ment and  Little  Parliament,  for  this  object ;  but  could 
never,  till  his  Highness  came  into  power,  get  the  matter 
brought  to  a  hearing.  And  so  they  debate  and  solemnly 
consider  ;  and  his  Highness  spake  ;  and  says  one  witness 
[Sir  Paul  Rycaut],  '  I  never  heard  a  man  speak  so  well.' 
His  Highness  was  eager  for  the  scheme,  if  so  might  be. 
But  the  Scripture  prophecies,  Law  learnings  and  lights  of 
the  human  mind  seemed  to  point  another  way ;  Zealous 
Manasseh  went  home  again ;  the  Jews  could  not  settle 
here  except  by  private  sufferance  of  his  Highness  ;  and 
the  matter  contracts  itself  into  a  point  for  us." 

Amongst  those  who  worked  against  the  Re- 
admission  was  William  Prynne,the  celebrated  contro- 
versialist, sometime  Keeper  of  the  Records  in  the 
Tower  of  London.  He  gives  the  following  vivid 
account  of  his  interview  with  Philip  Nye,  one  of  the 
preacher-members  of  the  Conference. 

"  In  my  return  homewards  that  day  (7th  Dec.  1655), 
by  the  garden-wall  at  Whitehall,  Mr.  Nye,  the  Minister, 
going  very  fast,  there  overtook,  and  saluting  me  by  name, 


CROMWELL  AND  THE  JEWS  71 

presently   demanded   this   unexpected   question   of   mc ; 
whether  there  were  any  Law  of  England  against  bringing 
in  the  Jews  amongst  us  ?    for  the  Lawyers  had  newly 
delivered  their  opinions  that  there  was  no  Law  against 
it.     To  which  I  answered,  that  the  Jews  were  in  the  year 
1290,  all  banished  out  of  England,  by  Judgment  and  Edict 
of  the  King  and  Parliament,  as  a  great  grievance,  never 
to  return  again  :  .  .  .  that  it  was  now  a  very  ill  time  to 
bring  in  the  Jews,  when  the  people  were  so  dangerously 
and  generally  bent  to  Apostacy,  and  all  sorts  of  Novelties 
and  Errors  in  Religion ;    and  would  sooner  turn  Jews, 
than  the  Jews  Christians.     He  answered,  He  thought  it 
was  true,  and  was  sorry  he  could  not  discourse  longer  with 
me,  the  Committee  about  the  Jews  being  sate,  and  staying 
for  him  as  he  feared.     Whereupon,  as  he  was  turning  in 
towards  Whitehall  Gate,  I  told  him,  the  Jews  had  been 
formerly  great  clippers  and  forgers  of  money,  and  had 
crucified  three  or  four  children  in  England  at  least,  which 
were  principal  causes  of  their  banishment.     To  which  he 
replied,   that   the   crucifying  of   children   was   not  fully 
charged  on  them  by  our  Historians,  and  would  easily  be 
wiped  off.     Whereto  I  answered.  He  was  much  mistaken  : 
and  so  we  parted.     As  I  kept  on  my  way,  in  Lincolnes- 
Inne-Fields,  passing  by  seven  or  eight  maimed  soldiers 
on  stilts,  who  begged  of  me  ;    I  heard  them  say  one  to 
another.  We  must  now  all  turn  Jews,  and  there  will  be 
nothing  left  for  the  poor.     And  not  far  from  them  another 
company  of  poor  people  just  at  Lincolnes-Inne  back  Gate 
cried  aloud  to  each  other  :    They  are  all  turned  Devils 
already,  and  now  we  must  all  turn  Jews.     Which  unex- 
pected concurrent  providences  and  speeches,  made  such 
an  impression  on  my  spirit,  that  before  I  could  take  any 
rest  that  night,  I  perused  most  of  the  passages  in  our 
English  Histories  concerning  the  Jews  carriage  in  England, 
and  some  of  their  misdemeanours  in  other  parts  to  refresh 
my  memory,  and  satisfie  my  judgement ;   making  some 
collections  out  of  them,  which  after  I  enlarged  and  digested 


72     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS   IN  ENGLAND 

into  this  ensuing  Demurrer,  with  as  much  speed  as  the 
sharpness  of  the  season  would  permit ;  and  was  induced 
to  pubUsh  it  (knowing  no  particular  discourse  of  this 
subject  extant)  for  the  general  information,  satisfaction 
of  others." 

The  treatise  here  referred  to  was  the  First  Part  of 
a  "  Short  Demurrer  to  the  Jews  long  discontinued 
barred  Remitter  into  England,"  w^herein  (as  in  the 
Second  Part),  though  Prynne  is  bitter  and  prejudiced, 
yet  he  gives  an  enormous  number  of  interesting 
extracts  from  the  Public  Records  regarding  the  Jews 
before  the  Expulsion. 

But  to  return  to  Cromwell :  the  Protector,  dis- 
appointed at  the  results  of  the  Conference,  gave 
personal  assurances  to  the  Jews  as  to  their  protection, 
as  to  their  worship,  etc.  He  financially  assisted 
Menasseh  ben  Israel,  who  had  returned  to  Amsterdam, 
also  disappointed. 

Permission  was  granted  to  the  Jew^s — with  whom 
were  reckoned  the  Spanish  Crypto- Jews  who  had  now 
proclaimed  their  old  faith — to  open  a  burial-place  in 
Mile  End  ;  the  lease  whereof  is  preserved  in  the  Bevis 
Marks  Synagogue. 

Oliver  Cromwell  passed  away  on  September  3, 
1G58,  and  before  long  Charles  II.  returned  to  the 
land  of  his  birth. 


CHAPTER   II 

AFTER   THE   RESTORATION 

The  cause  of  the  exiled  Stuarts  had  been  supported 
by  certain  Jews,  such  as  the  Da  Costas  and  Coronel 
Chacon  ;  and  when  Charles  II.  came  back  to  England 
they  had  their  reward  ;  the  latter,  for  instance,  a 
convert,  was  knighted.  On  the  other  hand,  Antonio 
Caivajal  and  others  had  identified  themselves  with 
the  Commonwealth.  On  the  Restoration,  however, 
the  easy-going  monarch  allowed  the  Jews  much  of 
the  security  they  had  lately  been  receiving.  It  is 
true  that  a  London  Alderman,  Thomas  Violet  by 
name,  had  lately  endeavoured  to  stir  up  the  legal 
authorities  against  the  Israelites  ;  and  the  attempt 
was  renewed  in  1C60  with  the  support  of  other  members 
of  the  City  Corporation.  But  the  Jews  made  a 
counter  petition,  and  no  action  w^as  taken.  Indeed, 
more  of  them  were  admitted  as  actual  citizens. 
Certain  cases  of  conversion  are  also  recorded  ;  Rabbi 
Moses  Sciallitti,  from  Florence,  was  publicly  baptized 
at  St.  Margaret's,  Westminster,  on  Trinity  Sunday, 
1663,  the  Bishop  of  Chester,  Dr.  Collins,  of  King's 
College,  Cambridge,  and  Lady  Huntingdon  standing  as 
god-parents.  A  Letter^  written  by  him,  was  published 
"  declaring  the  reasons  of  his  conversion,  and  exhorting 
others  to  embrace  the  Christian  Faith."     The  Bursar's 


74     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS   IN  ENGLAND 

Books  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  speak  of  certain 
payments  made  to  Senior  Paul  Sciallitti  (the  Christian 
name  adopted  will  be  noticed).  Similar  payments 
were  granted  (also  in  the  years  immediately  following 
the  Restoration)  to  a  "  converted  Jew  Michaell,"  as 
well  as  to  "  Abendanathe  Jew,"  ix,  to  the  well-known 
Isaac  Abendana,  who  did  good  literary  work  for 
some  years  at  Cambridge  and  at  Oxford,  and  whose 
brother  Jacob  was  subsequently  Haham  of  the  London 
Community.  Some  curious  remarks  were  made  at 
this  date,  and  again  a  little  later,  on  the  recurring 
theme  of  the  Wandering  Jew,  but  this  subject  has 
already  been  dealt  with  in  an  earlier  chapter. 

Thomas  Violet  died  shortly  after  the  legal  appli- 
cations referred  to  above ;  but  followers  in  his  foot- 
steps were  found  in  the  Earl  of  Berkshire  and  a 
Mr.  Ricaut,  whose  efforts,  however,  were  not  more 
successful,  a  Jewish  petition  to  the  King  resulting  in 
renewed  promises  of  protection. 

The  Conventicle  Act  of  1664  naturally  caused 
some  alarm  in  the  community ;  and  indeed  about 
nine  years  later  proceedings  were  taken  against 
certain  Synagogue  worshippers,  but  again  Charles  II. 
stopped  the  prosecution. 

Coming  to  Charles's  successor,  it  was  to  be 
expected  that  the  new  monarch  would  be  lenient 
towards  any  deviation  from  the  religion  of  the  state  ; 
and  accordingly  we  find  that,  in  the  first  year  of  his 
reign,  when  an  informer  brought  an  action  against 
certain  Jewish  worshippers,  James  II.  caused  the 
Attorney-General  to  stay  the  proceedings. 

Two  or  three  allusions  having  been  made  to  the 
Synagogue  of  the  Jews,  it  may  be  remarked  that  the 


AFTER  THE  RESTORATION  75 

place  of  worship  which  had  been  allowed  in  Cromwell's 
time  in  Crce  Church  Lane  had  been  enlarged  in  the 
year  1667.  This  synagogue  was,  of  course,  connected 
with  the  Scphardim  Jews,  that  is  to  say,  with  the 
Israelites  who  had  originally  come  from  Spain  or 
Portugal,  or,  it  may  be  added,  from  Holland.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  the  Crypto-Jews,  who  were 
found  in  London  in  considerable  numbers  and  who 
declared  themselves  orthodox  Jews  under  Cromwell, 
were  Spanish  Marranos.  The  other  branch  of 
Israelites,  the  Ashkenazim,  who  came  from  Germany 
and  further  East,  were  only  to  be  found  in  small 
numbers  in  London  during  the  first  part  of  the  period 
with  which  we  are  now  dealing. 

The  chief  Rabbi  of  the  Scphardim  is  known  as 
the  Haham,  and  the  first  holder  of  that  distinguished 
position  in  England  was  Jacob  Sas^oortas,  of  Amster- 
dam, who  was  appointed  in  1664  ;  he  did  not,  how- 
ever, long  remain  the  spiritual  head  of  the  English 
Scphardim,  being  followed  by  Joshua  da  Silva  (1670- 
1679).  The  next  Haham  was  Jacob  Abendana, 
already  mentioned,  who  only  held  office  for  a  few 
years  ;  Solomon  Ayllon — with  Eastern  symi)athies — 
succeeding  him  in  1689  and  retiring  in  the  first  year 
of  the  new  century.  In  his  time,  the  place  of  worship 
of  the  Scphardim  was  removed  and  enlarged,  the 
new  building,  opened  in  1702,  being  the  well-known 
Bevis  Marks  Synagogue.  Herein,  it  may  be  noted, 
may  still  be  seen  a  beam,  taken  from  the  timbers  of 
an  old  man-of-war,  and  presented  by  Queen  Anne. 
A  new  Haham  was  appointed  shortly  after  the 
consecration.  David  Nieto  was  a  divine  and  a 
physician,  and  a  man  of  considerable  attainments. 


76     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS   IN  ENGLAND 

He  held  office  till  his  death,  soon  after  the  accession 
of  George  II.,  so  that  we  shall  meet  with  him  in  the 
next  chapter,  "  Under  the  Hanoverians." 

It  should  previously  have  been  remarked  that  one 
or  two  proposals  had  been  made  to  establish  a  Ghetto 
in  London.     This  was  suggested  at  the  time  of  the  Re- 
settlement, and  again  near  the  end  of  Charles  II. 's  reign ; 
but,  just  as  in  Pre-Expulsion  times,  there  had  never 
been  such  a  confinement  to  close  quarters  as  in  Rome 
and  in  some  other  places  on  the  Continent,  so  at  the  Re- 
turn no  Jewish  Ghetto  was  ever  actually  established. 
Tovey  prints,  under  the  heading  of  James's  time, 
the  Petition  which  the  London  merchants  numerously 
and    influentially    signed    against    the  remission    of 
"  the  Alien  Duties  "  upon  all  goods  exported  which 
that  king  had  granted  to  the  Jews,  and  which  they 
feared  might  be  further  extended  to  all   imported 
goods.      A  somewhat    similar  question  raised  at  the 
beginning  of  the  next  reign — that  of  William  III. 
and  Mary  II. — by  William  Pennington,  one  of  the 
officers  of  the  London  Custom  House,  is  also  dealt 
with  and  illustrated  by  documents  in  Anglia  Judaica. 
The  Jews  were  again  favourably  treated.     It  may  be 
mentioned  that  William  III.  had  been  greatly  helped 
in  financial  matters  by  some  of  the  Dutch  Jews  when 
he  was  about  to  claim  the  English  Throne  ;  as  it  will 
be  remembered  had  Charles  II.  when  he  was  hoping 
for  the  Restoration. 

The  financial  difficulties  which  William  experi- 
enced soon  after  his  establishment  in  England  led 
to  a  suggestion  for  special  taxation  of  the  Jews  ;  but 
the  tallages  of  Pre-Expulsion  times  were  no  longer 
possible,   and  a  Bill  which  was  introduced  in  1689 


AFTER  THE  RESTORATION  77 

for  taxing  the  Israelites  to  the  extent  of  £100,000  fell 
through,  and  a  loan  of  £12,000  or  £20,000  was  raised 
with  difficulty. 

Turning  again  from  matters  of  the  State  to 
spiritual  affairs,  we  may  note  that  during  the  last 
deeades  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  number  of 
Ashkenazim  Jews — those  from  Germany,  etc. — 
was  increasing ;  and,  as  many  of  them  were  j:)oor, 
their  relationship  to  the  older  and  wealthier  section 
led  sometimes  to  difficulties.  At  length  a  separate 
synagogue  was  established  (in  Broad  Street,  Mitre 
Square),  and  after  a  while  a  Chief  Rabbi  was  appointed. 
The  Very  Rev.  Dr.  H.  Adler,  the  late  incumbent  of 
this  important  office,  has  given  an  interesting  account 
of  his  predecessors  in  a  paper  read  at  the  time  of  the 
Anglo-Jewish  Exhibition  (in  which  by-the-by  he, 
by  mistake,  links  them  on  with  "  the  Chief  Presbyters  " 
of  Pre-Expulsion  years).  There  is  some  confusion  as 
to  the  first  occupants  of  the  post ;  but  we  may  name 
Uri  Phaibush,  known  as  Aaron  Hart,  who  held  the 
office — with  various  anxieties — almost  till  the  end  of 
the  reign  of  George  II.  Him  also,  therefore,  we  shall 
meet  in  Hanoverian  days. 

In  Queen  Anne's  days  certain  Acts  of  Parliament 
were  passed,  including  a  measure  which  provided  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  children  of  Jewish  parents 
who  should  adopt  Protestant  Christianity. 

The  most  notorious  Jew,  during  this  reign,  was 
Solomon  Medina,  who  was  well  known  as  an  army 
contractor  during  the  war  with  France,  and  was 
knighted  for  his  services  ;  though  his  name  is  less 
honourably  linked  with  certain  accusations  of  bribery 
in  connexion  with  Marlborough. 


CHAPTER   III 

UNDER   THE   HANOVEEIANS 

The  influence  of  Jewish  finance  in  the  first  half  of  the 

eighteenth   century   was   very   beneficial.     Sampson 

Gideon,  in  particular,  was  prominent  in  practice  and 

in  advice.     During  the  wild  speculations  in  the  times 

of  the  South  Sea  Bubble,  he  had  a  steadying  influence  ; 

and  the  patriotic  conduct  of  the  Jews  was  helpful  to 

the  Government. 

In  1723,  an  Act  was  passed  by  which  a  Jew  could, 

without  using  the  words  "  on  the  faith  of  a  Christian," 

give  evidence  on  oath,  and  so  on.     This  recognition, 

as   simple  British  subjects,   was  much  appreciated. 

The  Naturalisation  Act  of  1740  was  another  relief  to 

the  Community  ;   while  some  j^ears  later,  in  1753,  the 

Government  brought  in  a  still  more  important  Bill 

as  to  qualification  by  residence.     This  was  debated 

with  great  keenness  in  both  Houses  of  Parliament, 

and  was  actually  passed.     The  ojDposition  to  it  was, 

however,  renewed,  and  such  was  the  state  of  public 

feeling    that,    in    the    following     year,    this    Jewish 

Naturalisation  Act  was  repealed.     A  plentiful  supply 

of  literature  on  the  subject  was  distributed  on  all 

hands. 

78 


UNDER  THE  HANOVERIANS  79 

Meantime  members  of  the  Jewish  community 
advanced  in  wealth  and  importance ;  questions  as 
to  marriages  came  before  the  Law  Courts ;  the 
numerous  charities  for  which  the  members  of  the 
synagogues  have  always  been  distinguished  were 
started,  and  so  on.  The  elders  of  the  Portuguese  section 
formed  a  "  Board  of  Deputies,"  which  received  royal 
sanction,  and  has  had  great  influence.  The  Ashkenazim 
Jews  were  afterwards  allowed  to  share  in  the  organisa- 
tion. 

We  saw  in  the  last  chapter  that  at  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Bevis  Marks  Synagogue 
was  consecrated,  and  that  David  Nieto  was  appointed 
Haham  of  the  Sephardim  Jews.  This  distinguished 
Rabbi  was  the  centre  of  much  controversy  in  the 
religious  community  on  the  subject  of  Spinozism,  etc., 
and  the  agitation  spread  to  their  brethren  in  Amster- 
dam. His  literary  activities  were  great,  and  many 
and  varied  treatises  were  published  by  him.  He  died 
in  the  year  1728,  and  it  w^as  not  till  five  years  later 
that  his  son  Isaac  was  chosen  to  succeed  him  as 
Haham ;  he  resigned  office  in  1741.  He  also  was  a 
scholar  of  considerable  attainments,  and  it  may  be 
noted  that  Dr.  Tovey,  the  author  of  Anglia  Judaica 
(1738),  seems  to  have  been  acquainted  with  him, 
referring  to  him  as  "  the  Learned  Bahhi  Isaac  Netto, 
present  Rector  of  the  chief  Synagogue  at  London.''' 
His  successor  as  Haham  was  Mosshe  Gomes  de 
Mesquita,  who  held  office  till  his  death  in  1751. 
Isaac  Nieto  again  became  the  spiritual  head  of  the 
Sephardim,  but,  as  in  his  father's  incumbency,  there 
were  disputes  among  the  members  of  the  congregation, 
and  he  again  resigned  in  the  year  1755.    Some  few 


so     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

years  later,  Moses  Cohen  d'Azavedo,  a  son-in-law  of 
Haham  Mcsquita,  was  appointed  to  the  headship,  in 
spite  of  the  protests  of  Isaac  Nieto.  The  new  Haham 
continued  in  office  till  his  death  in  1784.  There  was 
then  a  long  interval  before  the  synagogue  of  the 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  Jews  had  a  successor  as 
spiritual  head. 

We  turn  from  the  Sephardi  community  to  the 
Aslils:enazim  Jews,  over  whom  we  saw  that  Rabbi 
Uri  Phaibush,  known  as  Aaron  Hart,  ruled  during  the 
first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century.  As  so  often 
happened,  there  were  disputes  in  the  congregation,  and 
a  secession  took  place — certain  members  setting  up  a 
new  synagogue  (known  as  the  Hambro)  in  Magpye 
Alley,  with  Jochanan  Hollischau  as  Rabbi  thereof. 
The  central  community  had  also  moved  to  larger 
quarters,  the  Duke's  Place  or  Great  Synagogue  (built 
at  the  expense  of  the  Rabbi's  brother,  Moses  Hart) 
being  opened  in  1722.  This  reminds  us  that  the 
Jews  in  London  were  increasing  in  numbers,  especially 
in  the  German  section  ;  indeed,  after  a  while  we  shall 
find  that,  although  the  Sephardim  still  retained  much 
of  its  Spanish  prestige,  the  Ashkenazim  came  to 
dispute  their  ascendancy.  Rabbi  Aaron  Hart  died 
in  175G,  and  in  the  following  year  Rabbi  Hirsch 
Lobel  succeeded  him  at  the  Great  Synagogue.  This 
Chief  Rabbi  was  also  known  as  Hart  Lyon  ;  early  in 
his  official  career,  a  controversy  arose  as  to  matters 
relating  to  Shechita,  the  orthodox  Jewish  method  of 
slaughtering  animals  for  consumption.  One  Jacob 
Kimchi  declared  "  all  the  Shochctim  of  London 
unworthy  of  holding  their  posts  on  account  of  their 
not  rejecting  certain  animals  which  were  alleged  to 


UNDER  THE  HANOVERIANS  81 

be  suffering  from  a  disease  of  the  lungs,  and  thus 
causing  the  congregation  to  eat  forbidden  food. 
The  Chief  Rabbi  maintained  that  the  Shoehetim 
had  not  acted  illegally  "  ;  but  he  was  so  hampered  by 
the  wardens  of  his  congregation,  that  he  resigned 
his  post.  Dr.  H.  Adler  speaks  highly  of  his  learning, 
and  gives  some  curious  instances  of  his  humour  and 
ready  wit. 

The  next  Chief  Rabbi  (17C5)  was  David  Tewele 
Schiff,  who  found  the  community  still  increasing, 
his  synagogue  being  enlarged  soon  after  his  appoint- 
ment ;  and  some  years  later,  in  1790,  while  he  was 
still  the  spiritual  leader,  the  building  in  Duke's  Place 
was  also  rebuilt  on  a  larger  scale,  chiefly  at  the  expense 
of  Mrs.  Judith  Levy,  daughter  of  Moses  Hart.  Chief 
Rabbi  Schiff  died,  after  lengthened  service,  in  the 
year  1792,  but  no  actual  successor  was  appointed 
until  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Still  there  were  fresh  arrivals  from  the  Continent, 
and,  as  many  of  the  immigrants  were  in  poor  circum- 
stances, there  were  further  calls  upon  the  charitable 
funds  and  institutions  of  the  Jewish  community. 
There  was  also  further  need  for  synagogue  extension, 
a  Polish  place  of  worship  being  founded  in  Houns- 
ditch  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  a  western  synagogue 
first  at  Denmark  Court,  Strand  (1797)  and  after- 
wards in  St.  James's  Place,  Haymarkct.  Various 
provincial  synagogues  might  also  be  mentioned,  but 
space  prevents  more  than  a  glance  at  Jewish  doings 
outside  the  metropolis.  For  a  similar  reason,  the 
affairs  of  the  Israelites  in  our  colonies  cannot  be 
chronicled  here. 

Before  we  leave  the  eighteenth  century,  passing 


82     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

allusion  may  be  made  to  certain  notable  Jewish  families 
or  individuals — the  da  Costas,  the  D'Aguilars,  the 
D'Israelis,  the  Ricardos,  the  Goldsmids,  etc.,  the 
Lyonses  at  Cambridge,  and  other  provincial  families, 
not  to  mention  such  Jews  as  Myer  Lyon  and  John 
Braham,  the  singers,  Samuel  Mendoza  and  other 
pugilists,  with  many  others. 

Some  of  these  became  Christians.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  convert  to  Judaism  must  be  recorded  in  the 
case  of  Lord  George  Gordon,  whom'readers  of  Dickens's 
Barnahy  Rudge  will  remember  as  the  fanatical  leader 
in  the  alarming  "  No  Popery  Riots."  It  is  not 
necessary  here  to  dwell  upon  his  consignment  to 
Newgate,  and  his  retention  there.  This  half-witted 
brother  of  the  Duke  of  Gordon  had  previously  been 
admitted  by  a  Jewish  rabbi  into  the  faith  of  Abraham. 
The  kindly  ministrations  paid  to  the  poor  man  by  a 
beautiful  daughter  of  Israel  form  an  interesting  incident 
in  a  strange  story. 

Such  is  a  brief  chapter  on  the  Jews  during  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  following  is  a  still  shorter 
account — with  which  Mr.  Israel  Zangwill  opens  his 
amusing  story  entitled  "  the  King  of  Schnorrcrs '! 
(or  Jewish  Beggars) : — 

"  The  days  when  Lord  George  Gordon  became  a 
Jew,  and  was  suspected  of  insanity  ;  when  out  of  respect 
for  the  prophecies,  England  denied  her  Jews  every  civic 
right  except  that  of  paying  taxes  ;  when  the  Gentleman'' s 
Magazine  had  ill  words  for  the  infidel  alien  ;  when  Jewish 
marriages  were  invalid  and  bequests  for  Hebrew  colleges 
void  ;  when  a  prophet  prophesying  Primrose  Day  would 
have  been  set  in  the  stocks ;  though  Pitt  inclined  his 
private  car  to  Benjamin  Goldsmid's  views  on  the  foreign 


LORD  geor(;k  (;oRnoN 

KROM    A    «  A  I  KK-COI-OUK    DKAWINf.    liV    I'OI.ACK    MADE    IN    NKWCATE 


p.  8. 


Short  History  of  JiU'S  hi  England 


UNDER  THE  HANOVERIANS  83 

loan — those  da5''s  when  Tcvclc  Schiff  was  Rabbi  in  Israel, 
and  Dr.  do  Falk,  the  Master  of  the  Tetragrammaton 
saint  and  cabbaHstic  conjuror,  flourished  in  Wcllclosc 
Square,  and  the  composer  of  '  The  Death  of  Nelson  '  was 
a  ehoir-boy  in  the  Great  Synagogue." 


CIIArTER   IV 

EMANCIPATION 

The  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  found  the 
Jews  of  England  still  labouring  under  many  political 
and  social  disabilities,  and  some  fifty  or  sixty  years 
more  were  to  pass  before  emancipation  was  actually 
adopted.  Those  years  tell  of  a  great  struggle  ;  of 
continued  and  incessant  efforts  of  individual  Jews  ; 
of  equally  persistent  endeavours  on  the  part  of  lovers 
of  freedom  in  Parliament  and  elsewhere.  Still  the 
Jews  were  restricted  in  many  professions  and  walks 
of  life ;  still  they  were  excluded  from  holding  many 
civil  offices  ;  still  they  were  debarred  from  entering 
the  House  of  Commons. 

But  gradually  barriers  were  broken  down  in  the 
professions,  in  the  city  of  London,  in  the  Universities, 
in  Parliament  itself. 

In  the  year  1830  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir)  Robert 
Grant  introduced  a  Bill  into  the  House  of  Commons 
advocating  the  removal  of  various  Jewish  disquali- 
fications. This  was,  however,  rejected  at  the  second 
reading  by  a  large  majority.  Mr.  Grant  made  another 
effort  in  Parliament  in  1833,  and  this  time  was  more 
successful  in  the  House  of  Commons ;  but  after  the 
Bill  had  been  introduced  into  the  House  of  Peers  by 

84 


EMANCIPATION  85 

Lord  Bexley,  it  was  rejected  at  the  second  reading. 
It  will  be  seen  afterwards  that  both  Mr.  Robert  Grant 
and  Lord  Bexley  were  active  members  of  The 
London  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Christianity 
amongst  the  Jews.  In  183G  a  further  effort  was 
made,  with  partial  Governmental  support,  but  the 
House  of  Lords  was  again  the  obstacle.  All  the 
steps  in  the  direction  of  emancipation  cannot  here  be 
detailed ;  but,  while  an  Act  was  passed  in  1845  for 
the  relief  of  persons  of  the  Jewish  religion  elected  to 
municipal  offices,  it  was  not  till  the  year  1858  that 
the  oath  required  of  members  of  Parliament  was  so 
altered  that  it  could  be  taken  by  Jews,  nor  till  18GG 
that  such  difficulties  were  finally  swept  away. 

Meanwhile  there  had  been  some  remarkable 
individual  struggles.  David  Salomons,  for  instance, 
had  been  appointed  Sheriff  of  London  and  Middlesex, 
elected  an  Alderman  of  the  City,  and  afterwards, 
in  1855,  Lord  Mayor  of  London ;  he  had  been 
chosen  to  represent  Greenwich  in  Parliament  and  had 
voted  in  the  House  of  Commons,  thereby  subjecting 
himself  to  a  fine.  Sir  Moses  Montefiore,  of  philan- 
thropic fame,  likewise  held  the  office  of  Sheriff  of 
London  in  1837.  Baron  Lionel  de  Rothschild  had 
also  been  elected  a  Member  of  Parliament  for  the 
City  of  London  in  1847.  It  was  not,  however,  till 
some  years  later  (1858)  that  these  two  representatives 
were  allowed  to  take  their  seats  in  the  Legislature. 

The  portals  of  the  Upper  House  were  also  opened 
in  1886 ;  the  first  Jewish  peer  being  Nathan  Meyer 
Rothschild,  the  son  of  the  representative  of  the  City 
of  London  just  mentioned.  That  M.P.,  Baron  Lionel, 
was  the  eldest  of  the  three  sons  of  an  older  Nathan 


86     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS   IN  ENGLAND 

Meyer  Rothschild,  who,  belonging  to  the  renowned 
family  of  financiers  of  that  name,  had  settled  in 
England  towards  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and,  having  been  naturalised  in  the  year  1804, 
represented  the  great  firm  in  this  land.  The  brothers 
of  Baron  Lionel  (who,  by-the-by,  figures  as  "  Sidonia  " 
in  Lord  Beaconsfield's  novel  Coningshy)  were  Anthony, 
who  was  made  a  Baronet  in  1846,  and  Meyer,  whose 
daughter  Hannah  married  Lord  Rosebery. 

Other  members  of  the  House  of  Lords  have  been 
Baron  Henry  de  Worms,  created  Lord  Pirbright ; 
Sir  Henry  Samuel,  who  took  the  name  of  Montagu, 
and  was  made  Lord  Swaythling ;  and  Sir  Rufus 
Isaacs,  Lord  Chief  Justice,  now  Earl  Reading. 

Jews  also  have  entered  the  Ministry  and  the 
Cabinet ;  among  such  being  Lord  Pirbright,  mentioned 
above,  Sir  Herbert  Samuel,  the  Hon.  Edwin  Montagu, 
and  others. 

The  Universities  also  have  removed  barriers  which 
had  prevented  the  graduation  of  Jews ;  and  very 
distinguished  names  have  appeared  in  foremost 
places  in  the  examination  lists  ;  J.  J.  Silvester,  second 
Wrangler  in  the  year  1837,  passed  afterwards  from 
Cambridge  to  an  Oxford  Professorship  ;  while  Numa 
Hartog  was  Senior  Wrangler  in  18C9,  and  Selig 
Brodetsky  attained  that  position,  bracketed,  in 
1908. 

Jews  had  formerly  been  unable  to  be  called  to 
the  Bar,  but  eminent  lawyers  have  been  admitted  and 
welcomed  to  distinguished  legal  posts.  Sir  George 
Jessel,  Master  of  the  Rolls,  and  Lord  Reading,  Lord 
Chief  Justice,  have  already  been  mentioned. 

Similarly  honoured  names  in  other  branches  of 


EMANCIPATION  87 

service  and  professions  might  be  given,  at  home  and 
in  the  Colonics. 

British  Jews  have  responded  to  these  privileges 
by  conspicuous  loyalty.  In  the  United  Kingdom 
and  the  Dominions  there  arc  reckoned  to  be  about 
420,000  Jews  ;  of  these,  in  the  South  African  War 
some  2000  Jews  served,  of  whom  114  laid  down  their 
lives.  While  in  the  Great  War  (according  to  the 
Rev.  M.  Adler,  C.F.),  out  of  50,000  Jews  who  joined 
His  Majesty's  Forces,  2324  were  killed  and  6350  were 
wounded  ;   5  Jews  were  awarded  the  V.C. 

We  turn  again  to  the  Ministry  of  the  Synagogues. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century  and  in  the  opening  years  of  the  nineteenth, 
there  was  a  vacancy  in  the  office  of  Chief  Rabbi.  At 
length,  in  1802,  ten  years  after  the  death  of  Tewele 
Schiff,  Solomon  Hirschell,  son  of  his  predecessor 
Hirsch  Lobel  (Hart  Lyon),  was  appointed  head  of  the 
Duke's  Place  Synagogue.  This  distinguished  Chief 
Rabbi  held  office  for  forty  years,  and  extended  his 
influence  over  the  other  Ashkenazi  synagogues ; 
though  during  his  declining  years,  as  we  shall  see, 
the  members  of  the  Reform  party  established  a  new 
synagogue  in  West  London,  to  the  great  dismay  of 
the  orthodox  authorities.  Solomon  Hirschell  died 
in  1842,  and  two  or  three  j^cars  later  a  great-nephew  of 
Chief  Rabbi  David  Tewele  Schiff  was  elected  as  his 
successor.  Dr.  Nathan  Marcus  Adler  was  Chief 
Rabbi  from  1844  to  1890,  holding  the  office  with 
distinction,  as  did  his  son  and  successor,  Dr.  Hermann 
Adler,  who  was  elected  in  1891,  having  previously 
acted  as  assistant  to  his  father  for  some  years.  He 
held  the  incumbency  till  his  death  in   1911 ;    the 


88      HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS   IN  ENGLAND 

present  holder  of  this  honoured  post  is  the  Very  Rev. 
Dr.  J.  H.  Hertz,  who  was  appointed  in  the  year  1913. 

Turning  to  the  SejDhardi  congregations,  it  will 
be  remembered  that  there  was  here  also  an 
interval  between  the  spiritual  offiee-holders.  Indeed, 
it  was  not  till  the  year  1806  that  a  new  Haham  was 
appointed  in  the  person  of  Raphael  Meldola,  a  learned 
member  of  a  learned  family,  who  held  office  till  his 
death  in  1828.  Allusion  has  already  been  made  to 
the  Reform  movement  and  to  the  dissensions  through- 
out both  sections  of  the  Jewish  Community.  We 
may  conclude  by  noting  that  the  present  Haham, 
the  very  Rev.  Dr.  Gaster,  a  distinguished  scholar, 
has  held  the  spiritual  headship  of  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  Synagogue  since  the  year  1887,  when, 
after  an  interval  of  some  eight  years,  he  succeeded 
Benjamin  Artom,  who  had  officiated  from  1866  to 
1879. 

We  have  been  dealing  with  the  usual  routine 
history  of  the  synagogue  ;  with  the  ordinary  con- 
servative and  orthodox  Jews.  But  the  educational 
and  civil  emancipation  which  was  abroad  had  stirred 
the  thoughts  of  many  ;  there  was  reform  in  the  air. 
Such  questions  as  the  following  were  being  debated  : 
a  desire  to  make  the  services  less  lengthy  and  more 
devotional ;  the  use  of  the  vernacular  in  those  services, 
and  especially  in  sermons  and  discourses ;  the 
omission  of  such  prayers  as  those  for  the  renewal  of 
sacrifices  when  the  Temple  should  be  restored ;  the 
use  of  music,  vocal  and  instrumental,  in  their  devo- 
tions ;  the  abolition,  or  diminution,  of  the  separation 
of  women  in  the  synagogues,  etc.  In  the  year  1836, 
a  definite  petition  was  presented  to  the  authorities 


EMANCIPATION  89 

by  a  number  of  religious  reformers,  asking  for  the 
adoption  of  some  of  the  suggestions.  The  request, 
however,  was  promptly  refused,  and  so  was 
another  petition  three  years  later.  In  1840  a  further 
step  was  taken — a  congregation  of  Reformers  was 
started  ;  while  two  years  afterwards  the  West  London 
Synagogue  of  British  Jews  was  established,  with  the 
Rev.  D.  W.  Marks  as  minister.  This  movement  was 
bitterly  opposed  by  the  orthodox  seetion,  led  by  the 
aged  Chief  Rabbi  Solomon  Hirschell  and  by  the 
temporary  head  of  the  Sephardim  Jews,  who  went 
so  far  as  formally  to  pronounce  an  edict  of  excom- 
munication (Cherem),  and  even  to  refuse  burial  to 
a  deceased  member  of  the  new  synagogue.  Various 
other  consequences  of  this  boycotting  followed, 
which  need  not  here  be  enumerated.  It  may  be 
added,  some  few  years  afterwards  legal  sanction  was 
obtained  for  the  solemnisation  of  matrimony,  etc., 
while  as  time  went  on,  the  bitterness  of  feeling  largely 
died  away,  and  representatives  of  the  seceders  were 
admitted  to  sit  on  the  Committee  of  Deputies  and  other 
Jewish  assemblies. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  century,  however,  there 
was  a  further  movement  in  the  direction  of  Liberal 
Reform.  In  1890  what  were  known  as  the  Hamp- 
stead  Sabbath  Afternoon  Services  were  started,  and 
later  on  Sunday  religious  gatherings  were  instituted. 
In  1901  the  Jewish  Religious  Union  was  established  ; 
a  Prayer-book  was  compiled,  and  an  East  End  Branch 
of  the  movement  was  formed.  At  length,  in  1910,  a 
Liberal  Jewish  Synagogue  was  opened  in  Hill  Street, 
Dorset  Square,  with  Mr.  Claude  G.  Montefiore  as 
President,  and  Mr.  Mattuck  as  Rabbi. 


90     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS   IN  ENGLAND 

Official  Judaism  was,  of  course,  again  greatly 
disturbed  by  this  advance ;  and  the  Chief  Rabbi 
(Dr.  Hermann  Adler)  appealed  to  the  authorities  of 
the  West  London  Synagogue,  with  which  the  new 
congregation  proposed  to  associate  itself,  not  to 
countenance  the  movement.  Thus  while,  as  we  have 
seen,  "  in  1842  the  West  London  Synagogue  was 
anathematized  by  the  rabbis  and  the  lay  authorities 
of  the  official  synagogue,  in  1899  it  was  appealed  to 
by  a  successor  of  the  Chief  Rabbi,  who  had  pronounced 
the  Chcrem  upon  it,  to  join  hands  in  suppressing  a 
forward  movement." 

In  the  First  Part  of  this  volume,  chajDters  were 
devoted  to  the  home  life,  the  business  life,  the 
religious  life  of  the  early  Jews  of  the  Pre-Expulsion 
period  ;  and  perhaps  similar  sections  ought  to  be  given 
here  with  reference  to  modern  sons  of  Israel,  contrasting 
the  somewhat  aristocratic  style  of  the  Spanish  families, 
a  century  and  more  ago,  with  the  wandering  poverty 
of  the  German  and  other  pedlars ;  and  the  wealthy 
surroundings  nowadays  of  the  Jews  in  the  West  End 
of  London  and  elsewhere,  and  the  extensive  dealings 
and  operations  on  'Change,  with  the  extraordinary 
scenes  and  doings  in  the  East  End.  But  these  are 
so  well  known,  and  have  been  so  vividly  described  by 
Mr.  Israel  Zangwill  and  others,  that  there  is  no  need 
to  dwell  upon  the  subject  here,  except  to  repeat 
admiration  for  the  generous  efforts  made  by  the  richer 
Jews  on  behalf  of  their  poorer  brethren. 


CHAPTER  V 

SYNAGOGUE   VISITORS 

On  the  return  of  the  Jews  to  England,  there  was 
considerable  curiosity  to  see  the  synagogues  and  the 
manner  of  worship  of  the  new-comers,  and  it  may  be 
interesting  to  read  the  reports  of  some  of  the 
visitors. 

So  early  as  1662,  one  John  Greenhalgh  gives  an 
account  of  what  he  saw  at  the  Sephardi  Synagogue 
in  Cree  Church  Lane  ;  and  the  description  is  the  more 
interesting  because  of  the  suggestion  that  the  meeting- 
house visited  was  not  merely  a  newly-opened  syna- 
gogue, but  the  rooms  where  Crypto-Jews  had  secretly 
carried  on  their  religious  services. 

Let  us  borrow  from  Mr.  Lucien  Wolf's  graphic 
account  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Transactions  of 
the  Jewish  Historical  Society  of  England.  He 
describes  the  large  and  mysterious-looking  gabled 
house  in  Cree  Church  Lane,  Leadenhall  Street, 
tenanted  by  Moses  Athias,  a  clerk  to  the  well-known 
Spanish  merchant  Antonio  Carvajal.  Its  basements 
were  strongly  barred,  its  upper  windows  were 
impenetrably  curtained.  Swarthy  strangers  and  their 
mincing   and  bejewelled   spouses   flocked  thither   at 

91  G 


92     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

frequent  but  regular  intervals.  Muffled  melodies  and 
nasal  recitatives  were  heard  in  the  still  morning  air 
proceeding  from  the  upper  stories. 

Greenhalgh's  letter  shows  conclusively  that  the 
synagogue  which  he  visited  had  originally  been 
arranged  to  suit  the  requirements  of  a  secret  congre- 
gation. It  was  held  on  the  first  floor  of  a  private 
house,  and  its  entrance  was  protected  by  three  double- 
locked  doors.  Although,  in  1662,  it  was  still  desirable 
to  hold  Jewish  services  with  some  degree  of  privacy, 
it  was  no  longer  necessary  to  observe  defensive 
precautions.  These  double-locked  doors  must  con- 
sequently have  been  a  relic  of  the  secret  worship  in 
or  prior  to  1655,  and  may  be  regarded  as  evidence  of 
the  Pre-Settlement  age  of  the  synagogue. 

The  internal  arrangements  were  necessarily  rather 
primitive.  Two  rooms  were  reserved  for  prayer,  the 
smaller  being  appropriated  to  the  women,  and 
separated  from  the  larger  by  a  partition  fitted  with 
a  long  and  narrow  latticed  window.  In  the  larger 
room  four  long  forms — two  on  each  side — were 
provided  for  the  male  worshippers.  The  banco,  or 
Warden's  box,  consisted  of  a  seat  and  desk  raised  high 
above  the  other  seats,  and  occupying  the  west  end 
of  the  room.  Six  feet  in  front  of  the  banco,  and  on 
a  slightly  lower  level,  was  the  reading-desk,  with  two 
steps  on  each  side,  and  brass  candlesticks  at  each 
corner.  The  Ark  was  little  more  than  a  plain  cup- 
board flanked  by  huge  brass  candlesticks.  Two 
perpetual  lamps  of  "  christal  glass  "  hung  before  it. 
The  walls  were  fitted  with  drawers,  in  which  the 
worshippers  kept  their  books  and  Talithim. 

The  very  next  year,  on  October  13,  1663,  there 


SYNAGOGUE  VISITORS  98 

is  an  entry  in  Mr.  Pepys's  Diary  which  is,  as  usual, 
vividly  written  : — 

"  After  dinner  my  wife  and  I,  by  Mr.  Rawlinson's 
conduct  to  the  Jewish  Synagogue,  where  the  men  and 
boys  in  their  vayles,  and  the  women  behind  a  lattice  out 
of  sight ;  and  some  things  stand  up,  which  I  believe  is 
their  law,  in  a  press  to  which  all  coming  in  do  bow ;  and 
at  the  putting  on  of  their  vayles  do  say  something,  to 
which  others  that  hear  the  Priest  do  cry  Amen,  and  the 
party  do  kiss  his  vayle.  Their  service  all  in  a  singing  way, 
and  in  Hebrew.  And  anon  their  Laws  that  they  take  out 
of  the  press  are  carried  by  several  men,  four  or  five  several 
burthens  in  all,  and  they  do  relieve  one  another ;  and 
whether  it  is  that  every  one  desires  to  have  the  carrying 
of  it,  thus  they  carried  it  round  about  the  room  while  such 
a  service  is  singing.  And  in  the  end  they  had  a  prayer 
for  the  King,  in  which  they  pronounced  his  name  in 
Portugall ;  but  the  prayer,  like  the  rest,  in  Hebrew.  But, 
Lord  !  to  see  the  disorder,  laughing,  sporting,  and  no 
attention,  but  confusion  in  all  their  service,  more  like 
brutes  than  people  knowing  the  true  God,  would  make  a 
man  forswear  ever  seeing  them  more  ;  and,  indeed,  I 
never  did  see  so  much,  or  could  have  imagined  there  had 
been  any  religion  in  the  whole  world  so  absurdly  performed 
as  this." 

It  may  be  added  that  John  Evelyn,  the  friend  of 
Samuel  Pepys,  in  his  Diary  also  describes  a  visit  to 
a  synagogue.  It  was  at  an  earlier  date — August  21, 
1641 — and  abroad  ;    but  it  may  be  quoted  : — 

"  About  7  in  the  morning  I  came  to  Amsterdam, 
where  being  provided  with  a  lodging,  the  first  thing  I 
went  to  see  was  a  Synagogue  of  the  Jews  (being  Saturday), 
whose  ceremonies,  ornaments,  lamps,  law,  and  schools 
afforded   matter   for    my    contemplation.     The    women 


94     HISTORY    OF   THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

were  secluded  from  the  men,  being  seated  in  galleries  above, 
shut  with  lattices,  having  their  heads  muffled  with  linen, 
after  a  fantastic  and  somewhat  extraordinary  fashion  ; 
the  men  wearing  a  large  calico  mantle,  yellow  coloured, 
over  their  hats,  all  the  while  moving  their  bodies,  whilst  at 
their  devotions." 

Let  us  pass  a  century,  and  in  1770  with  the 
Rev.  Charles  Wesley,  the  hymn-writer,  and  brother 
to  John  Wesley,  pay  a  visit  to  Duke's  Place  Synagogue, 
which  is  thus  recorded  in  his  Journal:  "I  w^s 
desirous  to  hear  Mr.  Leoni  sing  at  the  Jewish  Syna- 
gogue. ...  I  never  before  saw  a  Jewish  congregation 
behave  so  decently.  Indeed,  the  place  itself  is  so 
solemn,  that  it  might  strike  an  awe  upon  those  who 
have  any  thought  of  God." 

Coming  to  the  nineteenth  century,  Mr.  James 
Picciotto,  in  his  interesting  Sketches^  tells  of  the 
patronage  of  the  Duke  of  Kent  to  the  synagogue 
funds,  and,  dwelling  upon  the  loyalty  of  the  Jews, 
records  the  following  : — 

"  In  April,  1809,  the  Synagogue  in  Duke's  Place  experi- 
enced the  unusual  honour  of  receiving  a  State  visit  from 
several  princes  of  the  blood.  Abraham  Goldsmid 
attended  personally  at  a  meeting  of  the  Synagogue  on  the 
3rd  of  April,  to  give  notice  that  the  Duke  of  Cumberland, 
the  Duke  of  Sussex,  and  the  Duke  of  Cambridge  intended 
to  assist  at  a  Friday  evening  service.  The  Duke  of  Sussex, 
it  is  well  known,  always  displayed  much  friendship  and 
sympathy  for  the  Jews.  On  this  occasion  pompous 
preparations  were  made  for  the  reception  of  these  dis- 
tinguished guests.  The  Wardens  of  the  day  were  Messrs. 
Asha  Goldsmid,  Joseph  Cohen  and  Moses  Samuel.  The 
notice  was  short,  for  the  visit  occurred  on  Friday  evcnin<jj 


SYNAGOGUE   VISITORS  95 

the  14th  April.  The  path  of  the  Royal  Dukes  from  the 
carriages  to  the  entranee  of  the  Synagogue  was  strewn  with 
flowers ;  and  their  advent  was  hailed  with  the  usual 
Prayer  for  the  Royal  Family — '  He  who  giveth  salvation 
unto  Kings  ' — intoned  by  a  well-drilled  choir.  Some 
verses  -written,  we  believe,  by  the  late  Michael  Josephs, 
were  sung ;  and  a  few  copies  printed  on  silk  were  dis- 
tributed to  a  favoured  number.  Altogether  the  cele- 
bration is  said  to  have  met  in  the  highest  degree  the 
approbation  of  the  princely  sons  of  George  III.,  and  the 
visit  of  the  Royal  Dukes  still  forms  a  tradition  of  glory 
among  the  older  members  of  the  Great  Synagogue." 

The  elaborate  appearance  of  some  of  the  present 
synagogues  need  not  be  described ;  nor  need  the 
authorised  Jewish  Daily  Prayer-books  be  quoted, 
except,  perhaps,  to  say  that  there  are  still  Oriental 
expressions  and  usages  contained  therein ;  as,  for 
instance,  when,  early  in  the  service,  men  are  bidden 
to  say  ;  "  Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King 
of  the  universe,  who  hast  not  made  me  a  woman  "  ; 
whilst  the  women,  in  subdued  tones,  declare,  "  Blessed 
art  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  universe,  who 
hast  made  me  according  to  Thy  will." 

The  reader  may  like  to  see  the  authorised  com- 
ments on  these  thanksgivings  ;  they  are  "  not  due 
to  pride  in  superior  privilege,  but  to  gratitude  for 
higher  obligations.  Many  of  the  ceremonial  duties 
were  not  incumbent  upon  women,  and  the  man,  so 
far  from  resenting  his  additional  burden,  thanked 
God  for  it." 

The  English  reader  of  these  Service  Books  will 
notice  that,  amidst  the  often  beautiful  prayers  and 
supplications,  the  blessings  and  confessions  of  faith, 


96     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

amidst  the  recitation  of  Psalms,  the  reading  of  the 
Law,  and  the  passages  from  the  Prophets,  there 
are  not  infrequent  additions  from  extra-Scriptural 
writings.  Thus  at  the  beginning  of  the  Prayer-book 
there  are  passages  from  the  Mishna  and  Baraithas, 
containing  specimens  of  "  the  subtle  dialectics  in 
which  the  Jewish  mind  revels."  And  so  "  after  the 
legal  (halachic)  Mishnaic  chapter  concerning  the 
Sabbath  light,  there  follows  a  homiletical  {haggadic) 
passage  {Rabbi  Eleazer  said,  etc.)  from  the  Talmud 
(end  of  Tractate  Berachoth)."  These  illustrate  the 
Jewish  desire  to  encourage  the  study  of  the  Law. 

The  visitor  at  a  synagogue  will  also  notice  various 
curious  ceremonials — the  wearing  of  the  Praying- 
Shawl,  the  Fringes,  and  the  Phylacteries ;  the 
Blowing  of  the  Shofar  (the  ram's  horn),  the  elevation 
of  the  Scrolls  of  the  Law,  and  the  carrying  thereof  to 
and  from  the  "  Ark  "  ;  the  swaying  of  the  body  in 
devotions,  etc. 

Tovey  ends  his  Anglia  Judaica  by  printing  in 
prominent  type  "A  Form  of  Prayer  for  the  King  and 
Royal  Family,"  used  by  the  Jews  in  their  synagogues, 
the  concluding  sentences  of  which  may  be  quoted. 
There  is  something  pathetic  in  the  memories  of  the 
past  hidden  in  these  words  which  are  still  used  in  the 
United  Hebrew  Congregations  of  the  British  Empire. 

"  May  the  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords,  in 
His  Great  Mercy,  put  into  the  heart  of  the  King,  and 
into  the  hearts  of  his  Lords  and  Counsellors,  tender 
compassion  towards  us,  that  they  may  deal  kindly 
with  us,  and  with  all  Israel,  our  Brethren.     Amen.' 


55 


CHAPTER   VI 


CONVERSIONS 


When  the  Jews  returned  to  England  at  the  Re- 
settlement in  Cromwell's  time,  Rabbi  Menasseh  ben 
Israel  concluded  his  Declaration  by  saying  :  "  This 
I  desire  all  may  be  confident  of,  that  I  am  not  come  to 
make  any  Disturbance,  or  to  move  any  disputes  about 
Matters  of  Religion." 

Pieeiotto  says  :  "  We  find  the  most  stringent 
enactments  passed  by  the  early  law-makers  of  the 
Israelites,  under  the  severest  penalties  in  their  power 
to  inflict,  against  the  reception  of  proselytes  into  the 
community.  This  principle  has  been  so  rigidly 
adhered  to  even  to  the  present  day  here,  that  the 
spiritual  guides  of  the  Jewish  community  have  ever 
persistently  refused  to  admit  strangers  to  the  rites, 
privileges,  and  duties  of  Judaism." 

And  Mr.  Hyamson,  in  his  excellent  History  of  the 
Jews  in  England,  pp.  243,  244,  remarks — 

"  It  was  a  tradition  that  the  return  of  the  Jews 
to  England  had  only  been  agreed  to  by  the  English 
Government  provided  that  no  converts  were  made, 
and  for  almost  two  centuries  after  that  date  the 
synagogues  invariably  refused  to  receive  into  the 
community  any  Gentile,  no  matter  how  sincere  was 

97 


98     HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

his  desire  to  enter  it.  It  appears  that  in  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  some  foreign  Jews,  settled 
temporarily  in  London,  were  making  proselytes.  On 
this  coming  to  the  cars  of  the  synagogue  authorities, 
joint  action  was  taken  by  them,  and  the  announce- 
ment was  publicly  made  that  any  Jew  guilty  of  the 
stated  offence  would  be  expelled  from  his  synagogue 
and  deprived  of  all  the  benefits  and  privileges  per- 
taining to  the  Jewish  religion." 

This  policy  was  urged  in  favour  of  the  Emanci- 
pation of  the  Jews.  Macaulay,  for  instance,  in  his 
imjiortant  speech  in  the  House  of  Commons,  on 
April  17,  1833,  in  support  of  Mr.  Robert  Grant's 
resolution,  used  the  following  argument :  "  There  is 
not  the  slightest  chance  that  the  Jewish  religion  will 
spread.  The  Jew  does  not  wish  to  make  proselytes. 
He  may  be  said  to  reject  them.  He  thinks  it  almost 
culpable  in  one  who  does  not  belong  to  his  race  to 
presume  to  belong  to  his  religion.  It  is,  therefore, 
not  strange  that  a  conversion  from  Christianity  to 
Judaism  should  be  a  rarer  occurrence  than  a  total 
eclipse  of  the  sun."  Messrs.  Abrahams  and  Levy, 
in  their  edition  of  this  speech,  however,  make  this 
comment :  "  Macaulay  here  overstates  the  case.  The 
synagogue  has  at  various  times  been  reluctant  to 
receive  and  unwilling  to  seek  proselytes.  But  it 
does  not  reject  them." 

Again,  Professor  Max  INIiiller,  in  his  Chips  from  a 
German  Workshop  (iv.  254),  declares  that  "  the  Jews 
do  not  proselytise  "  ;  but  later  on  (p.  319)  he  says 
that  "  the  Chief  Rabbi,  stung  to  the  quick  by  the 
reproach  of  the  absence  of  the  missionary  spirit  in 
Judaism,  has  delivered  a  sermon  to  show  that  I  had 


CONVERSIONS  99 

maligned    his    people,    etc.     A    Jewisli    Missionary 
Society  (he  adds)  is  actually  forming  in  London." 

Dr.  Israel  Abrahams,  in  his  remarkable  treatise 
on  Judaism  (p.  42),  observes  :  "  At  one  time  Judaism 
was  certainly  a  missionary  religion.  But  after  the 
loss  of  nationality  this  quality  was  practically 
dormant.  Moreover,  it  was  dangerous  for  Jews  to 
attempt  any  religious  propaganda  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  thus  the  pressure  of  fact  came  to  the  support  of 
theory.  Mendelssohn  even  held  that  the  same 
religion  was  not  necessarily  good  for  all,  just  as  the 
same  form  of  government  may  not  fit  equally  all  the 
various  national  idiosyncrasies.  Judaism  for  the 
Jew  may  almost  be  claimed  as  a  principle  of  orthodox 
Judaism.  It  says  to  the  outsider  :  You  may  come  in 
if  you  will,  but  we  warn  you  what  it  means.  At  all 
events  it  does  not  seek  to  attract."  The  quotation 
may  be  completed :  "It  is  not  strange  that  this 
attitude  has  led  to  unpopularity.  The  reason  of  this 
resentment  is  not  that  men  wish  to  be  invited  to  join 
Judaism  ;  it  lies  rather  in  the  sense  that  the  absence 
of  invitation  implies  an  arrogant  reserve.  To  some 
extent  this  is  the  case.  The  old-fashioned  Jew  is 
inclined  to  think  himself  superior  to  other  men.  Such 
a  thought  has  its  pathos." 

Such  is  the  Jewish  position ;  but  it  is  not  the 
Christian  attitude. 

The  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ  desires  that  all  men 
everywhere  should  know  and  share  the  privileges 
offered  by  Christianity.  And,  in  particular,  at  the 
date  when  the  eighteenth  century  was  passing  on  to 
the  nineteenth,  there  were  bands  of  enthusiastic 
believers  who  wished  to  tell    to  men  of   all    other 


100    HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

religions  (the  Jewish,  of  course,  included)  the  know 
ledge    of    that    salvation    which    they    themselves 
possessed. 

Accordingly  in  the  year  1801,  a  Christian  Jew,  of 
the  name  of  Joseph  Samuel  Christian  Frederick  Frey, 
who  had  come  to  England  to  join  in  foreign  missionary 
work,  seeing  the  condition  of  his  brethren  the  Jews 
in  London,  determined  to  remain  here  and  devote 
himself  to  their  spiritual  welfare.  Afterwards  a  small 
association  was  formed  in  1809,  conducted  on  general 
inter-denominational  lines  which  was  the  beginning 
of  the  London  Society  for  Promoting  Christianity 
amongst  the  Jews.  This  was  supported  by  many 
well-known  names,  such  as  William  Wilberforce, 
Charles  Simeon,  etc.  Robert  Grant  was  also  among 
them,  the  same  who  afterwards  introduced  into  the 
House  of  Commons  the  Bill  for  the  Emancipation 
of  the  Jews,  and  Lord  Bexley,  who  handed  it  on  to 
the  House  of  Lords ;  though  so  also  was  Sir  Robert 
Inglis,  its  determined  opponent.  The  Society  later 
on,  in  1815,  became  attached  exclusively  to  the 
Church  of  England,  the  Rev.  Lewis  Way  being  a 
very  generous  supporter  of  the  movement.  The 
Society,  which  eventually  extended  its  missionary 
efforts  abroad  in  the  Holy  Land  and  elsewhere,  has 
done  a  remarkable  work  in  its  schools,  its  hospitals, 
its  publications,  etc.,  as  well  as  in  preaching  and 
teaching.  In  the  year  1841,  the  Jerusalem  Anglican 
Bishopric  was  founded,  the  first  episcopal  leader  being 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Solomon  Alexander,  a  learned 
Hebrew  Christian ;  he  was  succeeded  in  1846  by 
Bishop  Samuel  Gobat.  The  History  of  the  London 
Society  for  Promoting  Christianity  among  the  Jews, 


rHK    KK\-.   I.KW  IS   WAV 


p.   lOO 


CONVERSIONS  101 

during  its  first  century  of  work,  has  been  admirably 
written  by  the  Rev.  W.  T.  Gidney. 

In  the  year  1842  was  founded  "  the  British  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Jews," 
and  various  other  associations  for  similar  work  have 
been  established.  There  is  not  space  here  to  detail 
the  important  labours  of  these  societies, 
f  Efforts  to  promote  conversion  to  Christianity 
have  always  been  greatly  resented  by  Jews.  The 
accounts  given  by  Dr.  Kidder  and  others  of  the  bitter 
persecutions  to  which  converts  have  been  subjected 
by  the  relatives  and  neighbours  are,  it  is  to  be  hoped, 
exaggerated. 

After  certain  examples  of  such  treatment  at  the 
beginning  of  Queen  Anne's  reign,  an  Act  of  Parliament 
was  passed  (as  we  have  seen)  in  1702  "  to  oblige  Jews 
to  maintain  and  provide  for  their  Protestant  children  " 
— so  that  "  if  any  Jewish  parent  in  order  to  the 
compelling  of  his  or  her  Protestant  child  to  change 
his  or  her  religion  shall  refuse  to  allow  such  child  a 
fitting  maintenance  ...  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the 
Lord  Chancellor  ...  to  make  such  order  therein  for 
the  maintenance  of  such  Protestant  child,  as  he  .  .  . 
shall  think  fit."  The  Act,  however,  was  soon  after- 
wards repealed. 

Complaints  have  been  made  by  Jews  of  unfair 
means  of  conversion  being  used  by  these  Societies, 
especially  among  children  and  the  poor.  It  has  been 
alleged  that  bribes  and  rewards  have  been  offered. 
It  may  be  that  some  eager  agents  may  now  and 
then  have  been  obtrusive  and  indiscreet ;  but  the 
names  of  those  who  have  controlled  the  Societies  and 
the  piety  and  goodness  of  those  who  have  worked 


102    HISTORY  OF  THE    JEWS   IN  ENGLAND 

under  them  are  a  guarantee  that  the  charges  are 
untrue  or  exceptional ;  while  the  destitute  conditions 
to  which  some  of  the  converts  are  exposed  show 
that  some  steps  must  be  taken  for  their  support. 
This  has  generally  been  done  by  Jewish  Operative 
Societies  and  Homes  of  Industry,  not  directly  con- 
nected with  the  Missionary  Societies. 

As  to  the  converts  themselves.  But  first  it  is 
sometimes  denied  that  there  are  any  converts. 
"  Convert  the  Jews  !  "  (says  Mr.  G.  F.  Abbott,  the 
author  of  Israel  in  Europe).  "  You  might  as  hopefully 
attempt  to  convert  the  Pyramids."  A  well-known 
Jew,  who  has  written  an  essay  upon  the  subject, 
first  questions  the  existence  of  converts,  and  then 
inconsistently  writes  as  follows  :  "  The  descendants 
of  Moses  Mendelssohn  abandoned  Judaism  and 
embraced  Christianity ;  and  not  only  members  of 
that  gifted  family,  but  such  eminent  artists  as  Heine, 
Moscheles,  Ferdinand  Ries,  Ferdinand  Hiller,  Joachim, 
Rubinstein,  and  numberless  other  distinguished 
German,  Polish,  Hungarian  and  Russian  Jewish 
musicians,  poets,  painters,  literati  and  scientists." 
The  same  writer  questions  the  motives  of  those  who 
embrace  Christianity  ;  and  yet  again  he  sneeringly 
says  that  some  of  the  converts  are  drawn  "/rom  the 
lowest  Jewish  class."" 

Christians  are  not  moved  by  such  a  sneer.  They 
are  glad  that  the  poor  should  have  the  gospel  preached 
to  them.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  besides 
referring  the  essayist  to  the  passage  quoted  above 
about  distinguished  foreign  converts,  let  the  following 
list  of  names,  selected  from  those  closely  connected 
with  our  own  land,  tell  its  story  : — 


CONVERSIONS  103 

D'Aguilar,  Bernal,  Gideon,  D'Israeli,  Diipass, 
Pereira,  Ricardo,  Braham,  Basevi,  Uzzielli,  Lopez, 
Herschell,  Wolff,  Alexander,  Benoliel,  Bernard, 
Sullivan,  Leoni  Levi,  Palgrave,  Lindsay,  Margoliouth, 
Davidson,  Ginsburg,  Edersheim,  Saphir,  Flecker, 
Ilellmuth,  Marks,  Rosenthal,  Schor,  Stern,  etc. 

And  let  be  noted  that  "  there  are  over  250  con- 
verted Jews,  or  sons  of  such,  ordained  clergymen  in 
the  Church  of  England,  and  more  than  double  that 
number  in  the  Nonconformist  bodies  at  home,  in  the 
Continental  Churches,  and  in  America "  (A.  Baring- 
Gould). 


CHAPTER  VII 

ZIONISM   AND    THE   MISSION  OF   ISRAEL 

A  WORD  or  two  may  be  said  upon  certain  questions 
which  look  further  afield,  and  affect  Jews  of  other 
lands.  The  Israelites  in  England — now  at  any  rate 
— are  fully  emancipated  ;  but  when  they  contemplate 
Russia  and  lands  nearer  West,  they  find  their 
brethren  cramped,  and  even  persecuted.  Cruel 
attacks  roused  indignation,  and  called  for  sympathy 
and  help,  and  have  found  a  ready  response  here  in 
England.  The  chivalrous  journeys  of  Sir  Moses 
Montefiore — even  in  old  age — are  not  likely  to  be 
forgotten. 

English  Jews  have  also  shared  in  various  racial 
aspirations.  Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  effort  of 
modern  times  has  been  the  Zionist  movement.  This 
arose,  to  a  certain  extent,  out  of  the  Anti-Semite 
outbreak  in  Russia  and  Central  Europe.  Stirred  by 
these  events,  and  by  the  political  conditions  of  his  own 
country.  Dr.  Thcodor  Herzl,  a  brilliant  Viennese  jour- 
nalist, in  1897,  launched  the  Zionist  cause.  Ilis  widely 
circulated  book — A  Jewish  State,  his  largely  attended 
congresses,  his  interviews  with  the  Sultan  of  Turkey, 
and  his  personal  influence  turned  many  hearts  afresh 
to  the  land  of  Palestine,  or  at  any  rate  to  schemes  of 

104 


ZIONISM  AND  THE  MISSION  OF  ISRAEL    105 

Jewish  Colonisation  and  autonomy  in  some  select 
area  of  the  world. 

Let  us  consider  the  English  attitude  towards 
Zionism.  In  our  land  the  Jewish  lot  has  fallen  unto 
them  in  a  fair  ground  ;  very  many  of  them  are  more 
than  content  with  their  circumstances  ;  they  have 
become  assimilated  to  the  country  of  their  inheritance 
or  adoption ;  some  have  even  inter-married  with 
their  neighbours ;  many  have  adopted  English 
surnames,  still  more  have  chosen  native  first  names. 
Consequently  (although,  of  course,  any  reference  to 
Zion  naturally  makes  a  sentimental  appeal)  the 
movement  has  not  caught  on,  at  least  not  in  certain 
circles  ;  and,  when  mention  is  made  of  a  "  national 
home "  in  Palestine,  many  here  point  out  the 
difference  between  Nationalism  and  Religion.  They 
are  Englishmen  by  nation,  they  are  Jews  by  religion 
— they  say.  Quite  a  shower  of  pamphlets — entitled 
Nation,  or  Religious  Community,  and  so  on — has 
been  issued.  On  the  other  hand,  it  should  be 
recorded  that  Zionism  has  gained  the  support  of 
some  distinguished  English  Jews — including  Mr. 
Israel  Zangwill,  who  has  schemes  of  his  own.  We 
need  not,  however,  here  allude  to  these  plans,  nor 
indeed  to  any  of  the  colonist  proposals.  We  may 
confine  ourselves  to  Palestine,  and  point  out  the 
difficulties  of  the  Zionist  movement  in  the  Holy  Land. 
What  will  be  the  relationship  to  the  Christians 
there  ?  What  to  the  many  Mohammedans  ?  Will 
the  holy  places  be  denationalised  ?  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  Temple  should  be  rebuilt,  will  sacrifices  be 
restored  ?  Do  the  Jews  look  for  a  Messiah  ?  The 
answers  to  these  questions  have  divided  the  Jews. 


106    HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND   £i 

There  are  those — not  only  from  Russia  and  other 
orthodox  and  unemancipated  lands — who  hope  for 
a  fully-restored  Jewish  Kingdom ;  but  even  of  those 
who  accept  Mr.  Balfour's  careful  reservations  as  to 
the  rights  of  others,  and  who  call  for  a  mandate  to 
Great  Britain  or  for  a  British  Protectorate,  there  are 
some  who  do  not  welcome  the  prospect.  Mr.  G.  F. 
Abbott,  Israel  in  Europe  (1907),  p.  494,  quotes  "  a 
member  of  the  wealthiest  family  in  Europe  "  as  saying, 
"  If  the  Messiah  ever  came,  I  would  apply  for  the 
post  of  Palestinian  Ambassador  in  London  "  ! 

[Since  the  above  was  written,  a  "mandate"  has 
been  given  to  the  British  Government ;  and  Sir 
Herbert  Samuel  has  been  appointed  High  Com- 
missioner, with  an  Advisory  Council.  It  is  too  early 
to  speculate  what  will  be  the  future  of  this  interesting 
movement,  but,  when  it  is  remembered  that  the 
population  of  Palestine  contains  80  per  cent. 
Moslems,  9  per  cent.  Christians,  and  only  11  per  cent. 
Jews,  it  is  evident  that  there  will  be  need  for  the 
greatest  wisdom  and  impartiality,  if  the  rights  of 
every  race  and  every  creed  are  to  be  respected.] 

This  opens  up  an  even  wider  question.  What  is 
the  future  of  Israel  ?  What  is  "  the  Mission  of 
Judaism "  ?  Do  the  Jews — at  any  rate,  do  the 
Liberal  Jews — look  for  a  Messiah  ?  The  well-known 
writer  who  contributed  the  article  on  Zionism  to  the 
last  edition  of  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  concludes 
with  these  words  :  "  Under  the  influence  of  religious 
toleration  and  the  naturalisation  laws,  nationalities 
are  daily  losing  more  of  their  racial  character.  The 
coming  nationality  will  be  essentially  a  matter  of 
education  and  economics,  and  this  will  not  exclude 


ZIONISM  AND  THE  MISSION  OF  ISRAEL    107 

the  Jews  as  such.  With  the  passing  away  of  anti- 
Semitism,  Jewish  nationalism  will  disappear.  If  the 
Jewish  people  disappear  with  it,  it  will  only  be  because 
either  their  religious  mission  to  the  world  has  been 
accomplished  or  they  have  proved  themselves  un- 
worthy of  it."  One  of  the  most  distinguished  of 
Jewish  writers  says :  "  it  is  very  difficult  to  assert 
nowadays  whether  Judaism  does  or  does  not  expect 
a  personal  Messiah."  The  same  author  finishes  his 
remarkable  volume  on  Judaism  with  the  following 
words :  "  Modern  Judaism  claims  no  finality  but 
what  is  expressed  in  that  hope  [the  (generally  received) 
acknowledgment  that  the  Lord  is  One,  and  His  name 
One].  It  holds  itself  ready  to  develop,  to  modify, 
to  absorb,  to  assimilate,  except  in  so  far  as  such 
processes  seem  inconsistent  with  this  hope.  Modern 
Jews  think  that  in  some  respects  the  Rabbinic  Judaism 
was  an  advance  on  the  Biblical ;  they  think,  further, 
that  their  own  Judaism  is  an  advance  on  the  Rabbinic. 
Judaism,  as  they  conceive  it,  is  the  one  religion,  with 
a  great  history  behind  it,  that  does  not  claim  the 
religious  doctrines  of  some  particular  moment  in  its 
history  to  be  the  last  word  on  Religion.  It  thinks  that 
the  last  word  is  yet  to  be  spoken,  and  is  inspired  with 
the  confidence  that  its  own  continuance  will  make 
that  last  word  fuller  and  truer  when  it  comes,  if  it 
ever  does  come." 

The  concluding  words  of  none  of  these  quotations 
ring  with  enthusiasm  or  clearness. 

We  Christians  wish  that  Jews  shared  with  us  the 
knowledge  of  promises  fulfilled  in  the  Person  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  the  certain  Iwpes  of  the  Future. 


APPENDIX  B 

THE   JEW   IN  ENGLISH    LITERATURE   (ll) 

Nothing  is  more  remarkable  in  English  Literature  than 
the  fascination  which  the  Jew  has  proved  to  be  to  most 
authors.  In  this  section  the  reader  will  be  reminded  of 
this  influence  by  reference  to  a  long  list  of  writers,  who  have 
made  an  Israelitish  person  or  incident  the  leading  character 
or  event  in  their  book,  or  have  made  some  striking  refer- 
ence to  the  Jew.  The  list,  however,  is  so  long,  that  it 
sometimes  degenerates  into  a  mere  catalogue ;  and,  even 
so,  the  reader  will  doubtless  call  to  mind  some  figure  or 
incident  that  might  have  been  mentioned. 

Dean  Lancelot  Addison,  the  father  of  the  essaj^'ist, 
when  chaplain  at  Tangiers,  was  greatly  interested  in  the 
Jews  and  wrote  an  account  of  them  which  attracted  much 
attention.  There  has  been  quoted  above  the  character- 
istically vivid  description  of  a  visit  to  the  London  Syna- 
gogue by  Samuel  Pepys  in  1663. 

Turning  more  distinctly  to  literature,  the  English 
loyahsts,  who  figure  as  Jews  in  Dryden's  satire  Absalom 
and  Achitophel,  will  be  remembered ;  and  so  will  the 
successful  tragedy  Marianne  (1723)  by  Elijah  Fenton ;  and 
Alexander  Pope's  allusions  in  The  Rape  of  the  Lock. 
Later  on,  reference  may  be  made  to  Oliver  Goldsmith's 
poem  The  Haunch  of  Venison,  written  in  swinging  anapaest, 
where  a  Jewish  journalist  is  depicted  as  a  characteristic 
figure. 

108 


APPENDIX  B  109 

Richard  Cumberland's  comedy  TJie  Jew,  first 
performed  and  published  in  1794,  was  often  acted  and 
ran  through  a  large  number  of  printed  editions.  "  Sheva 
the  Jew  was  played  by  Bannister,  '  handsome  Jack 
Bannister,'  while  Jubal,  his  man,  was  represented  by 
Suett,  an  irresistibly  droll  low  comedian.  Palmer,  one 
of  the  greatest  '  villains '  that  ever  trode  the  stage, 
appeared  as  Frederick ;  and  the  beautiful  and  celebrated 
Miss  Farren — who  subsequently  became  Countess  of 
Derby — graced  the  part  of  Louisa  Rateliff."  The  bene- 
ficent character  of  this  Jew  was  an  innovation  on  the 
stage ;  indeed,  Cumberland  himself  had  previously 
produced  a  play — The  Fashionable  Lover  (1772) — in  which 
a  Jewish  broker,  named  Napthali,  was  not  a  very  desirable 
character.  In  Tlie  Observer  (No.  38)  he  had,  however, 
drawn  a  figure,  Abraham  Abrahams,  who  foreshadowed 
his  good  opinion  of  the  Jews  ;  while  in  a  later  play — The 
Jew  of  Mogadore  (1808) — he  again  tried  to  produce  a 
favourable  impression,  though  he  was  not  so  successful 
as  with  Sheva. 

Cumberland  was,  it  will  be  remembered,  caricatured 
as  Sir  Fretful  Plagiary  by  Sheridan  in  The  Critic.  In 
that  author's  School  for  Scandal  there  was  the  character 
named  Moses  ;  while  in  his  comic  opera,  The  Duenna, 
Isaac  Mendoza  was  figured.  It  may  be  noted  that  the 
part  of  Don  Carlos,  in  the  last-mentioned  play,  was  per- 
formed by  Leoni,  the  teacher  of  Braham.  He  was  a 
strict  Jew  (whose  Synagogue  duties  we  have  already 
referred  to),  and  the  piece  was  never  performed  on  a 
Friday  night. 

Miss  Maria  Edgeworth's  novel  Harrington  "  was 
occasioned  by  an  extremely  well-written  letter,  which  she 
received  from  America,  from  a  Jewish  lady,  complaining 
of  the  illiberality  with  which  the  Jewish  nation  had  been 
treated  in  some  of  Miss  Edgeworth's  works."  In  the 
novel  Harrington  goes  to  Cambridge  and  is  very  friendly 
with  Israel  Lyons,  junior.     [The  works  published  by  the 


110    HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

father  and  son  of  that  name  might  be  mentioned  here.] 
Wc  are  told  of  the  hero  that  "  he  rummaged  over  Tovey 
[whose  Anglia  Judaica  has  often  been  quoted]  and  Ockley 
[Professor  of  Arabic  at  Cambridge,  who  Avrote  a  History  of 
the  Saracens,  etc.] ;  and  Priestley's  Letters  to  the  Jews,  and 
the  Letters  ofCeiiain  Jeics  to  M.  de  Voltaire.  Of  Voltaire's 
illiberal  attack  upon  the  Jews  and  of  the  King  of  Prussia's 
intolerance  towards  them,  he  could  not  express  sufficient 
detestation,  nor  could  he  adequately  extol  Cumberland's 
benevolent  Jew,  or  Lessing's  Nathan  the  Wise." 

George  Crabbe's  very  uncomplimentary  lines,  in  his 
poem  The  Borough,  need  not  be  quoted. 

Isaac  D'Israeli's  Genius  of  Judaism  should  perhaps 
rather  be  treated  in  a  former  chapter  than  dealt  with  in 
this  supplementary  section  ;  in  his  Curiosities  of  Literaure, 
there  are  portions  which  are  to  our  purpose,  such  as 
the  account  of  the  Massacre  at  York.  His  famous  son, 
Benjamin  Disraeli,  Lord  Beaconsfield,  was  always  proud 
of  the  race  from  which  he  sprang,  and  several  of  liis 
novels  deal  exclusively  w4th  Jewish  subjects.  Such,^re 
Coningshy  and  Tancred  and  Alroy ;  which  are  too  well 
known  to  need  description,  though  we  may  refer  to  the 
remarks  upon  them  in  Rabbi  David  Philipson's  The  Jew 
in  English  Fiction.  It  may  be  added  that  Thackeray 
^^Tote,  in  Punch  in  the  year  1847,  a  parody  of  the  first  of 
these  novels,  which  he  entitled  Codlingshy,  by  D.  Shrews- 
bury, Esq. 

William  Wordsworth  the  poet  has  some  interesting 
verses,  entitled  "  A  Jewish  Family,"  and,  as  we  have  seen, 
he  modernised  Chaucer's  "  Prioresse's  Tale."  His  friend 
Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge  published  a  versification  of 
three  Talmudic  Tales  in  the  Friend  ;  while  in  his  Table 
Talk,  he  has  several  severe  remarks  upon  the  Jews ;  for 
instance,  under  date  April  13,  1830,  it  having  been 
said  :  "  It  may  possibly  have  been  God's  will  and  meaning 
that  the  Jews  should  remain  a  quiet  light  among  the 
nations  for  the  purpose  of  pointing  at  the  doctrine  of  the 


APPENDIX  B  111 

Unity  of  God,"  Coleridge  answered  :  "  The  religion  of  the 
Jews  is  indeed  a  light ;  but  it  is  as  the  light  of  the  glow- 
worm, which  gives  no  heat,  and  illumines  nothing  but 
itself." 

Charles  Lamb,  in  his  essay  on  Imperfect  Sympathies, 
has  some  very  curious  and  characteristic  remarks  upon 
the  Jews — including  Braham  the  singer.  He  and  his 
sister  Mary  Lamb  also  deal  with  the  subject  in  the 
Elizabethan  Dramatists. 

Lord  Byron,  with  his  customary  frankness,  writes 
about  the  Jews  in  the  Age  of  Bronze,  but  the  noble  poet 
had  financial  dealing  with  Israelites  whom  he  satirizes. 
He  says,  in  Don  Juan — 

"  In  my  young  daj^3  thoy  lent  me  cash  that  way. 
Which  I  found  very  troublesome  to  pay." 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  so  Lockhart  tells  us,  also  knew  what 
it  meant  to  be  indebted  to  the  Jews.  But  the  author  of 
Ivanhoe  enlists  sympathy  for  Isaac  of  York  and  more 
than  sympathy  for  his  beautiful  daughter  Rebecca. 

Allusion  has  already  been  made  to  the  Jewish  chemist, 
Zacharias  Yoglan,  whom  Sir  Walter — in  Kenihvorth — 
makes  to  be  a  resident  in  London  for  some  years  in  the 
days  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

Before  leaving  Scott,  it  may  be  noted  that  Thackeray 
wrote  for  Punch  a  burlesque  continuation  of  Ivanhoe, 
which  he  called  "  Rebecca  and  Rowena,  a  romance  upon  a 
romance,'by  Mr.  M.  A.  Titmarsh." 

Shelley,  like  many  others,  was  attracted  by  the  story 
of  the  Wandering  Jew,  to  whom,  under  the  name  of 
Ahasuerus,  he  refers  in  Queen  Mab.  The  same  subject 
has  also  been  treated  by  Robert  Buchanan. 

The  Rev.  George  Croly  published  the  romance 
Salathiel  the  Immortal  in  1827,  while  Horace  Smith  wrote 
Zillah,  a  Tale  of  the  Holy  City  (1828),  and  Mrs.  J.  B.  Webb 
in  184-0  issued  a  story  called  Naomi,  or  the  Last  Days 
of  Jerusalem. 


112    HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS   IN  ENGLAND 

Thomas  Carlyle  has  various  allusions  to  the  Jews  in 
Saiior  BesaHus,  in  Past  and  Present,  in  the  Life  and  Letters 
of  Cromwell,  and  elsewhere. 

The  brigands,  in  Sir  Henry  Taylor's  A  Sicilian  Summer, 
were  Jews ;  Archbishop  Trench  wrote  various  poems  on 
Jewish  subjects,  including  poetical  versions  of  Talmudic 
Tales  ;  Alexander  William  Kinglake  made,  in  1835,  the 
Eastern  tour  described  in  his  volume  Eothen;  the  first 
Lord  Lytton  introduced  Jews  into  his  works,  My  Novel 
and  Leila  ;  and  so  did  Charles  Reade  in  Never  too  Late  to 
Mend. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  that  Jewish  characters  are 
introduced  (as  indeed  we  have  already  noticed)  into 
various  plays ;  such,  for  instance,  as  Levi  Lyons  in 
Will  Watch,  Abanazor  in  The  Jewess,  Abraham 
Mendez  in  Jack  Shepperd,  and  Melter  Moss  in  The 
Ticket  of  Leave  Man.  In  connexion  with  the  drama, 
too,  mention  should  be  made  of  Foote,  The  Minor  (with 
Transfer's  speech);  Sheridan  Knowles,  The  Maid  of 
Mariendorpt ;  Douglas  Jerrold,  his  comedy  Prisoner 
of  War  (1842),  and  his  dramatic  sketch  The  Painter 
of  Ghent ;  and,  to  come  to  more  recent  years,  Tlie 
Bells,  or  The  Polish  Jews,  which  brought  fame  to 
Sir  Henry  Irving ;  Man  and  Superman,  by  G.  Bernard 
Shaw,  and  the  tragedy  Herod  (1901),  by  Stephen  Phillips. 
George  du  Maurier's  Trilby  (with  the  Jewish  character 
Svengali)  was  successfully  dramatised. 

Returning  to  an  early  date,  we  must,  of  course,  specially 
notice  the  Jewish  characters  in  Charles  Dickens's  works. 
To  Barnahy  Budge,  and  his  treatment  of  Lord  George 
Gordon,  allusion  has  already  been  made.  There  is  a 
great  difference,  doubtless  intentional,  between  the  vivid 
but  awful  character  of  Fagin  in  Oliver  Twist  (1837)  and 
the  later  delineation  of  Riah  in  Our  Mutual  Friend 
(1864^5). 

Dealing  with  the  poets,  Matthew  Arnold's  elegiac 
verses  on  "  Heine's  Grave  "  arc  well  known  :   and  it  will 


APPENDIX   B  113 

be  remembered  that  he  has  elaborately  contrasted 
Hellenism  and  Hebraism  in  his  Culture  and  Anarchy. 
Robert  Browning  was  greatly  attracted  by  the  Jewish 
character,  and  he  has  made  some  profound  studies  of  it 
in  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra,  Jochanan  Hakkadosh,  Ben  Kar shook. 
Holy  Cross  Day,  Filippo  Baldinucci. 

To  return  to  the  novelists.  The  name  of  George  Eliot 
brings  before  us  one  of  the  profoundest  students  of  the 
Jewish  character.  She  had  already  written  the  Spanish 
Gypsy  in  1^38;  but  "in  1876  (says  Mr.  L.  Wolf)  the 
publication  of  Daniel  Deronda  gave  to  the  Jewish  national 
spirit  the  strongest  stimulus  it  had  experienced  since  the 
appearance  of  Sabbatai  Zevi."  Rabbi  David  Philipson 
has  dealt  with  this  great  novel  in  two  thoughtful 
essays.  Another  lady  novelist,  Mrs.  Humphry  Ward 
has  a  Jewish  character  in  her  work  Sir  George  Tressady ; 
and,  again,  so  has  Mrs.  Katherine  Cecil  Thurston  in  her 
novel  The  Circle  (1900).  We  may  also  note  Miss  Charlotte 
M.  Yonge's  The  Cruise  of  the  Ben  Berash  (1897) ;  while  it 
will  be  remembered  that  Mrs.  Craigie  (John  Oliver  Hobbs) 
introduced  Benjamin  Disraeli  into  one  of  her  novels. 
Marie  Corelli's  Temporal  Pozver  and  Barabbas  may  also  be 
mentioned. 

Having  noticed  the  lady-novelists,  we  may  refer  to 
Thomas  Adolphus  TroUope,  who  has  references  to  the 
Jews  in  What  I  Remember  ;  to  Walter  Besant's  The  Rebel 
Qiieen ;  to  George  Meredith's  The  Tragic  Comedians, 
with  its  incidents  in  the  life  of  Ferdinand  Lasalle. 
H.  Rider  Haggard  [who  had  joined  with  Andrew  Lang  in 
The  World's  Desire  (1891)]  may  also  be  noted  in  connexion 
with  his  Benita  (1902)  and  Pearl  Maiden  in  the  following 
year ;  Hall  Caine  gives  us  Israel  ben  Oliel  in  The  Scape- 
goat  (1891) ;  C.  F.  Keary  has  allusions  in  Broken  Play- 
things (1906) ;  Sir  Arthur  Quillcr-Couch  has  a  striking 
little  tale  about  a  Jew  from  Plymouth  and  a  Prisoner  on 
Dartmoor,  called  "  The  Jew  on  the  Moor,"  in  Corporal 
Sa7n  and  other  Stories;  George  Moore  has  given  us  TJie Brook 


114    HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  ENGLAND 

Kerith.     Mr.  Louis  Zangwill  has  reminded  us  of  George 
Walker's  Theodore  Cyphon. 

Nor  in  writing  of  Jewish  Literature  may  we  forget : 
Amy  Levi,  Reuben  Sachs  (1889) ;  Samuel  Gordon,  Sons 
of  the  Covenant  (1900) ;  Joseph  Hatton's  By  Order  of 
the  Czar  (1890);  Lily  Montagu's  Naomi's  Exodus  (1901); 
M.  P.  Shiel's  The  Lord  of  the  Sea  (1901) ;  and  Mrs. 
Alfred  Sidgwick's  Isaac  Ellefs  Money.  W.  Hale  White 
(Mark  Rutherford)  has  given  us  Clara  Hopgood  and 
Baruch  Colien. 

Last,  but  not  least,  we  have  Mr,  Israel  Zangwill's 
brilliantly  clever  Ghetto  Sketclies, 


] 


INDEX 


Aaron,  Benedict  son  of,  21 
Aaron,  son  of  Benjamin,  31-33 
Aaron  of  Cornwall,  20 
Aaron  de  Hibemia,  24 
Aaron  of  Kingston,  20 
Aaron  of  Lincoln,  4,  9,  16 
Aaron,  son  of  Vives,  1 1 
Aaron  of  York,  Arch-Presbyter, 

11,  12,  16 
Abbott,  Mr.  G.  F.,  102,  106 
Abendaua,  Isaac,  74 
Abendana,  Jacob,  Haham,  74,  75 
Abraham,  son  of  Antera,  14 
Abraham,  Benedict  son  of,  22,  23 
Abraham,  Isaac  son  of,  23 
Abraham,  Ibn  Ezra,  4,  27 
Abraham,  son  of  Josce,  31 
Abraham  lo  Chat  [or  Kat],  24 
Abraham  Mutun,  24 
Abrahams,  Dr.  Israel,  18,  54,  98, 

99 
Abraliams,  Sir  Lionel,  24,  41 
Abrahams,  Rev.  Moses,  34 
Adler,  Rev.  Dr.  Hermann,  Chief 

Rabbi,  26,  43,  77,  81,  87,  90 
Adler,  Rev.  Michael,  36,  38,  50, 

53,  55,  87 
Adler,  Rev.  Dr.  Nathan  Marcus, 

Chief  Rabbi,  87 
Alban's,  St.,  Abbej',  16 
Alexander,  Bishop  M.  S.,  100,103 
"  Alien  Duties,^'  70 
Almonda,  widow  of  Jchosliayah, 

29,  30 
America,  103 

Amsterdam,  68,  69,  75,  93 
Anglia-Judaica  [Tovevl,  25,  41, 

(37,  76,  79,  96,  110 


Anglo-Jewish  Historical  Society, 
10 

Anne,  Queen,  76,  101 

Anselm,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, 30 

Antera,  Abraham  son  of,  9,  14 

Anti-Semitism,  104-107 

Antwerp,  Sarah  of,  57 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  34, 35, 
36 

Archbishop  of  York,  34 

Archce,  14,  16,  41 

Arch- Presbyters,  11,  12  ;  Aaron 
of  York,  11,  12;  Elias  Epis- 
copus,  11,  12,  38  ;  Hagin,  eon 
of  Deulecresso,  11,  12  ;  Hagin, 
son  of  Master  Moses,  11,  12  ; 
Jacob,  11,  12  ;  Josceus,  11,  12 

Artom,  Benjamin,  Haham,  88 

Ashkenazim,  75,  77,  79,  80,  87 

Athias,  Moses,  91 

Ayllon,  Solomon,  Haham,  75 

Ayremine,  Bishop  William  de,  50 

Balfour,  Mr.  Arthur,  106 
Barabbas,  Marlowe's,  7 
Barbary  States,  51 
Baring-Gould,  A.,  103 
Barnaby  Rudge,  82 
Baruch,  Joseph  son  of,  27 
Basevi,  103 
Beaconsfield,  Lord,  86,  103,  110, 

113 
Belle-Assez,  of  Lincoln,  23,  25, 

31-33 
Benedict,  son  of  Aaron,  21,  28 
Benedict,  son  of  Abraham,  21,  22, 

23 


115 


116 


INDEX 


Benedict,  or  Elias  le  Riche  of 

Lincoln,  24 
Benedict  of  Lincoln,  16,  24,  31 
Benjamin,  son  of  Josce  Yechiel, 

31-33 
Benoliel,  103 
Berkslm-e,  Earl  of,  74 
Bermondsey,  Richard  Prior  of, 

37 
Bemal,  Mr,,  103 
Bernard,  103 
Beth-Din,  29,  30,  31 
Bevis  JNIarlss  Sjmagogne,  72,  75, 

79 
Bexley,  Lord,  84,  85,  100 
Bibliographical  Cruide,  etc.,  19 
Blois,  Peter  of,  36 
Board  of  Deputies,  79,  89 
Bodleian  Library,  68 
Bonefey,  Jacob  son  of,  21 
Bonevie  of  Oxford,  20 
Brabant,  Duchess  of,  66 
Braham,  John,  82,  109,  Ul 
Bridgenorth,  20 
Bristol,  55 

British  Jewish  Society,  101 
British  Museum,  15,  28,  41 
Broad  Street,  Mitre  Square,  77 
Brodetsky,  Selig,  86 
Browning,  Robert,  27,  113 
Biuy  St.  Edmunds,  18,  34 

Calendar  of  the  Exchequer  of  the 

Jews  [Rigg],  21 
Cambridge,  14,  16,  19,  28,  34,  36, 

37,  39,  44,  52,  68,  68,  69,  73, 

74,  82,  86,  109 
Canterbury,  23,  28,  35,  36 
Capiiula  de  Judceis,  14 
Carlyle,  Thomas,  5,  69,  70,  112 
Carvajal,  Antonio,  73 
Castile,  Eleanor  of,  6,  11,  43 
Catalogue  of  Papal  Registers,  35 
Caturcensian  Merchants,  1 1 
Chancery  Lane,  37,  52,  53 
Charies  II.,  72-74 
Charters,  14,  22 
Chest-s,  14-16,  19,  21,  41 
Chief  Rabbis,  11,  26,  77 
Chirographers,  14,  15 
Christian  Names,  49 


Chronicle  of  Abingdon,  18 

Chronicles  [Stowe],  37 

Cinque  Ports,  40 

Cistercian  Abbeys,  16 

Claricia  of  Exeter,  49 

Close  Rolls.  25,  38,  50,  50 

Cochab,  EJias,  29,  30 

Cok,  son  of  Cresse,  22 

Coke,  Lord,  41,  57 

Colchester,  Josce  of,  21,  23 

Condition  of  the  Jews  in  England 
[Sir  Lionel  Abrahams],  28,  41 

Contra  Perfidiam  JudcBorum,  36 

Conventicle  Act,  74 

Cornwall,  Aaron  of,  20 

Cornwall,  Richard  of,  6 

Coronel  Chacon,  73 

Corpus  Christi  College,  Cam- 
bridge, 39 

Cotingo,  Herbert,  52 

Cottenham,  37 

Cree  Church  Lane,  75,  91 

Cresse,  son  of  Master  Moses,  22 

Crispin,  Gilbert,  of  Westminster 
Abbey,  36 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  67-72 

Cromwell,  Thomas,  50 

Croyland  [Stowe],  37 

Da  Costa,  73,  82 

D'Aguilar,  82,  103 

Dartmouth,  Joanna  of,  55 

David  of  Oxford,  34,  35 

Davidson,  Dr.,  103 

Davies,  M.  D.,  Shetaroth,  25,  29, 
30 

Day  of  Atonement,  34 

D'Azavedo,  Moses  Cohen,  Ha- 
ham,  80 

Demurrer,  Short,  72 

Denmark  Court  Strand  Syna- 
gogue, 81 

Deudon6,  18 

Deudon6  "  Turrtoes,"  24 

Deulecress,  Hagin  son  of,  11,  12 

Dieulecresse  or  Mordecai,  or 
Solomon  of  Norwich,  24 

Disputation  of  a  Jeu\  etc.,  36 

D'Israeli,  Isaac,  54,  82 

D'Israeli,  see  Lord  Beaconsfield 

Dominicans,  37 


INDEX 


117 


Domus  Convcrsorum,   5,   3G-39, 

4»-63 
Dormido,  David  Abarvancl,  09 
Duko's  Place  Synagogue,  80,  81, 

94 
Dukes,  Royal,  94 
Dupass,  Mr,,  103 
Dyaya  of  Holm,  14 

Edersheim,  Rev.  Dr.,  103 
Edimuid  of  Lancaster,  0,  11 
Edward  L,G,  11,43,  44,  46,  67,  68 
Eleanor  of  Castile,  G,  11,  43 
Eleanor  of  Provence,  6,  43,  44 
Elias,  Chief  Presbyter,  6,  12 
Elias  or  Benedict  lo  Riche  of 

Lincoln,  24 
Elias  Cochab,  29,  30 
Elias  Episcopus,  Arch- Presbyter, 

12,  28 
Eiias,    Master,    son    of    Master 

Moses,  13,  26,  27,  39 
Elias,  Master,  56 
Elias  Sabot,  56 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  R.  Moses, 

51 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  51,  57 
Encyclopcedia  Britannica,  106 
English  Literature,  the  jews  m, 

59-63,  108-114 
Evelyn,  John,  Diary,  93 
Exchequer  of  the  Jews,  10,  11,  14, 

17,  21,  28,  33 
Exeter,  49 
Expulsion  of  the  Jews,   7,   28, 

40-45 

Fairfax,  68 
Falk,  Dr.  de,  83 
Ferdinando  Lopus,  57 
Ferdinandus,  Elizabeth,  52 
Ferdinandus,  Philip,  62 
Fines  Rolls,  39 
Fitz-Warin,  Fulk,  16 
Flecker,  103 
Flores  Historice,  41 
Fadcra  [Rymer's],  19,  50 
Fox,  John,  Book  of  Martyrs,  62 
France,  35,  77 
Franceys,  Judas  lo,  24 
Freeman,  Prof.,  IG 


Frey,  J.  S.  C.  F.,  100 
Furmentin  of  Lincoln,  13 

Gaster,  Dr.,  Haham,  88 

Gaunsc,  Joachin,  54 

Gentil,  father  of  Jacob,  Judah, 

Sarah,  and  Solomon,  30,  31 
Oentlemari's  Maaazine,  82 
Geoffrey  of  Stockwell,  21 
George  II.,  7G,  77 
George  III.,  24,  95 
Germany,  75,  77,  80,  90 
Ghetto,  76 

Ghetto  Stories  [Zangwill],  18 
Gideon,  Sampson,  78,  103 
Gidney,  Rev.  W.  T.,  101 
GitTard,  Archbishop  of  York,  16 
Ginsburg,  Dr.,  103 
Gislebert,  Monk,  37 
Gloucester,  22 
Gobat,  Bishop  Samuel,  100 
Godenota,  wife  of  Furmentin  of 

Lincoln,  13 
Goldemid,  Benjamin,  82 
Gordon,  Lord  George,  82,  112 
Grant,  Sir  Robert.,  84,  85,  98,  100 
Green,  Mrs.,  Toien  Life,  21 
Green,  John  Richard,  27 
Greenlaalgh,  John,  92 
Greenwich,  85 
Graetz,  Prof.,  0 
Gross,  Dr.  C,  10 
Grosseteste,  Bishop,  44 
Guienne,  44 
Guildford,  18 

Hagin,  son  of  Deulecresse,  1],  12 
Hagin,    son    of    Master    Mosea, 

Arch- Presbyter,  12 
Hampstead  Sabbath  Afternoon 

Services,  89 
Hambro  Synagogue,  80 
Hardy,  Mr.  W.  J.,  38 
Hart,  Aaron,  Chief  Rabbi,  11,  80 
Hart,  Moses,  80,  81 
Hartog,  Numa,  86 
Hastings,  20 
Hebrew  Colleges,  82 
Heine,  102 

Hellmuth,  Bishop,  103 
Henry  I.,  3 


118 


INDEX 


Henry  II.,  4 

Henry  IH.,  5, 6,  11,  26,  27,  37,  39 

Henry  IV.,  66 

Henry  VIII.,  67 

Henry  of  Woodstock,  61 

Hereford,  20 

Herschell,  103 

Hertz,  Dr.  J.  H.,  Chief  Rabbi,  88 

Herzl,  Dr.  Theodor,  104 

Hibemia,  Aaron  de,  24 

Hirschell,  Solomon,  Chief  Rabbi, 

87,  89 
History  of  the  Exchequer  [Madox], 

41 
Holinshed,  38 
Holland,  76,  76 
Hollischau,  Jochanan,  R.,  80 
Home   Life   of  the   Jews   in   the 

Middle  Ages  [Abrahams],  18 
Honiton,  23 
Hovmdsditch,  81 
Houndsditch  Synagogue,  81 
Hugh  of  Lincoln,  6,  21 
Hmitingdonshire,  68 
Hyamson,  Mr,  Albert  M.,  History 

of  the  Jews  in  England,  97,  98, 

etc. 

Ingtilphus,  37 

Isaac,  son  of  Abraham,  23 

Isaac  the  Long,  Short,  etc.,  24 

Isaac  of  Southwark,  18 

Isaac  of  York,  19,  20,  23 

Israel  in  Europe  [Abbott],  102, 

106 
Ivanhoe,  Sir  W.  Scott,  19 

Jacob,  Arch- Presbyter,  12 
Jacob  ben  Azahel,  R.,  68 
Jacob  ben  Jehuda,  33,  34 
Jacob,  son  of  Bonefey  of  Oxford, 

21 
Jacob,  son  of  Joseph,  30 
Jacob  of  Norwich,  23 
Jacob  of  Oxford,  20,  21 
Jacobs,  Dr.  Joseph,  16,  27,  43 
James  II.,  74,  76 
Jehiel,  R.,  of  Paris,  27 
Jehoshayah   ben  Elias  Cochab, 

29,30 
Jehoshua,  Menahem  son  of,  30 


Jehuda,  Jacob  ben,  33 

Jehuda  Menda  [Nathaniel],  51, 

62 
Jerusalem,  27 

Jerusalem,  Bishopric  in,  100 
Jessel,  Sir  George,  53,  86 
Jews  in  Canterbury,  36 
Jews  in  the  Colonies,  81 
Jews  in  English  Literature,  09- 

63,  108-114 
Jews,  Exchequer  of,  10,  11 
Jews,  Ordinances  of,  10 
Jewish  Exhibition   Publications, 

10,  38,  53,  77 
Jewish  Historical  Society  of 

England  Transactions,  28,  38, 

54,  91 
Jewish  Names,  23,  24,  25 
Jewish  Prayer-books,  89,  95,  96 
Jewish  Quarterly  Review,  34 
Jewish  Religious  Union,  89 
Jewish  State,  A  [Herzl],  104 
Jewries,  18,  19,  22 
Joachim,  102 
Joanna  of  Dartmouth,  65 
Joift-ed  of  Croyland,  37 
John,  King,  5,  16 
Josce,  Abraham  son  of,  31 
Josce  of  Colchester,  21,  23 
Josce,  son  of  Joshua,  31 
Josce,  Master,  20 
Josce  of  Oxford,  20 
Josce  Pigge,  24 
Josce,  son  of  Sara,  23 
Josce  Yechiel,  31 
Josceus,  Arch- Presbyter,  12 
Joseph,  son  of  Baruch,  27 
Joseph,  Jacob  son  of,  30 
Joseph,  Miriam  daughter  of,  30 
Joseph  de  Peitevin,  24 
Joshua,  Josce  son  of,  31 
Judah,  son  of  Milo,  31 
Judas  le  Franceys,  24 
Judaism  [Dr.  Israel  Abrahams], 

99,  107 
Jumet  of  Norwich,  13,  23 

Kaufmann,  Dr.,  23 
Keswick,  54,  55 
Kidder,  Dr.,  101 
Kimchi,  Jacob,  80,  81 


INDEX 


119 


Kingston,  Aaron  of,  20 
Kinton,  Roger  de,  17 
Kitchin,  Dr.,  21 

Lancaster,  Edmund  of,  6,  1 1 

Lansdovme  MSS.,  41 

Le  Eveske,  Episcopus,  Cohen,  or 

Bishop,  12 
Loe,  Sir  Sidney,  54 
Leicester,  44 
Leipzic,  33 

Lenglois,  Bonami,  etc.,  42 
Leo  the  Goldsmith,  13,  24 
Leoni,  94,  109 
Levi,  Leoni,  103 
Levy,  Mrs.  Judith,  81 
Levy,  Rev.  S.,  98 
Leyden,  52 
Liberal  Jewish  Synagogue  [Hill 

St.,  Dorset  Square],  89 
Lincoln,  4,  6,  9,  13,  16,  18,  19,  21, 

23,  24,  31 
Lincoln,  Aaron  of,  4,  9,  16 
Lincoln,  Hugh  of,  6,  21 
Lindsay,  103 
Lobel,  Hirsch  [Hart  Lyon],  Chief 

Rabbi,  80,  87 
Lombard  Money  Lenders,  57 
London,  21,  28,  37,  40,  61,  55,  74, 

75,  84,  86,  98 
London  Society  for  Promotion  of 

Christianity  among  the  Jews, 

85,  100,  101 
Long,  Walter,  16 
Lopez,  103 
Lopez,  Roderigo,  57 
Lopus,  Ferdinando,  67 
Lyon,  Myer,  82 
Lyons,  Israel,  82 

Macaulay,  Lord,  98 
Madox,  Thomas,  10,  41 
Magna  Carta,  5 
Magpie  Alley,  80 
Maitland,  Prof.,  37 
Manasseh  Ben  Israel,  68-72,  97 
IMandeville,  Earl  of  Essex,  16 
Margaret  [Miriam,  daughter  of 

Jumet  de  Norwich],  13,  23 
Margery  of  Stamford,  55,  56 
Margolioutb,  Dr.,  103 


Marks,  Rev.  Dr..  103 
Marks,  Rev.  D.  W.,  89 
Marlborough,  Duke  of,  77 
Marlowe,  Christopher,  7 
Marranoa,  57,  58,  67-69,  72,  75, 

91 
Martin,  Mr.  C.  T.,  38 
Master  Moses,  12,13, 22, 27, 31,  39 
Masters  of  the  Law,  26,  27,  34 
Masters  of  the  Rolls,  50,  63 
Matthew  of  Paris,  39,  41 
Mattuck,  Mr.,  89 
Mayor,  Lord,  56,  69,  85 
Medina,  Sir  Solomon,  77 
Meldola,  Raphael,  Haham,  88 
Menda,  Jehuda  [Nathanaol],  52 
Menahem,  son  of  Jehoshua,  30 
Menahem  the  Scribe,  13,  21 
Mendelssohn,  Moses,  102 
Mendoza,  Samuel,  82 
Merchant  Guild,  22 
Merton  Property,  Cambridge,  16 
Mesquita,    Mosshe    Gomes    de, 

Haham,  79 
Meyr  of  Oxford,  20 
Michael,  Convert,  74 
Mile  End,  72 
Milo,  Judah  son  of,  31 
Miriam  [Margaret],  13,  23 
Miriam,  daughter  of  Joseph,  30 
Montague,  the  Rt.  Hon.  Edwin, 

86 
Montefiore,  Mr.  Claude  G.,  89 
Montefiore,  Sir  Moses,  85,  104 
Montfort,  Simon  de  44 
Mordecai     or     Dieulecresso     or 

Solomon  of  Norwich,  24 
Moscheles,  102 
Moses  R.   [Elizabeth,   daughter 

of],  61 
Moses  Ben  Isaac  Hanassiah,  27 
Moses    the  Dark,  le  Brun,  the 

Nosey,  etc.,  24 
Moses  of  Northampton,  20 
Moses,  Yomtob  son  of,  29 
Miiller,  Prof.  Max,  98 
Muriel,  wife  of  David  of  Oxford, 

34,  35 
Muton,  Milla,  widow  of  Saulot, 

13 
Mutun,  Abraham,  24 


120 


INDEX 


Names,  Christian,  49 

Names,  Jewish,  23-25 

Naturalisation  Act,  78 

Neubauer,  Dr.,  28 

Newgate,  82 

Nicholas,  Master,  of  Wadding - 

ham,  13 
Nieto  David,    Haham,    75,    76, 

79,  80 
Nieto,  Isaac,  Haham,  79 
Northampton,  20 
Norwich,  13,  22-24,  28-30,  31 
Norwich,  William  of,  4 
Nye,  Philip,  70,  71 

Officers  of  the  Synagogues,  28 
Ordinances  of  the  Jews,  10 
Oxford,  20,  21,  27,  28,  34,  35,  37, 

52,  56,  67,  69,  74,  86 
Oxonia  Antiqua,  37 

Palestine,  104-106 

Palgrave,  103 

Paris,  27,  39 

Paris,  Matthew  of,  0,  39,  41 

Parliament,  Jexoish,  6 

Past  and  Present,  5 

Patent  Rolls,  22,  27,  38,  60 

Peitevin,  Joseph  de,  24 

Pembroke    College,    Cambridge, 

34 
Pemiington,  William,  76 
Pepys,  Samuel,  Diari/,  93,  108 
Pereira,  103 
Peter  of  Blois,  36 
Pevensey,  20 
Peytivin  of  Lincoln,  21 
Philipson,  R.  David,  110,  113 
Picciotto,  J.,  Sketches,  24,  94,  97 
Piggc,  Josce,  24 
Pilgrimages,  27 
Pir  bright,      Lord      [Henry     de 

Worms],  86 
Pitt,  William,  82 
Plea  Rolls,   14,   15,   19,  20,  22, 

24-26,  28 
Poitevins,  5 
Pole,  David,  51 
Portugal,  75,  93 
Presbyter     Omnium     Judceorum, 

Anglioe,  11,  12,  26,  77 


Primrose  Day,  82 

Provence,  Eleanor  of,  6,  43,  44 

Prynne,  William,  70-72 

QcriNBOROUQH,  41 

Rabbi,  Chief,  11 

Raguenet's      Histoire      d'Oliver 

Cromwell,  68 
Raphael,  Mark,  57 
Reading,  Lord,  L.C.J.,  86 
Record  Office,  15,  28,  41,  53 
Reform  Movement,  87-89 
Revue  des  itudes  juives,  42 
Ricardo,  103 
Ricaut,  Mr.,  74 
Richard  L,  4,  5,  10,  19 
Richard  of  Cornwall,  6 
Richard,  Prior  of  Bermondsey,  37 
Ries,  Ferdinand,  102 
Rigg,  Mr.  J.  M.,  10,  12,  21 
Robin  Hood,  16,  19 
Rod,  Moses,  20 
Romilly,  Lord,  53 
Rosenthal,  103 
Rothschild,  Sir  Anthony,  86 
Rothschild,  Hannah  [Lady  Rose- 

bery],  86 
Rothschild,  Baron  Lionel  de,  85, 

86 
Rothschild,  Meyer,  86 
Rothschild,       Nathan       Meyer 

(Senior),  85,  86 
Rothschild,  Nathan  Meyer  Lord, 

85 
Rouen,  3 
Rubenstein,  102 
Russia,  102,  104,  106 
Rycaut,  Sir  Paul,  70 
Rymer,  Thomas,  Foedera,  19,  50 

St.  Alban's  Abbey,  16 

St.  James's  Place,  Haymarket, 

Synagogue,  81 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  68 
Salomons,  Sir  David,  85 
Samson,  Abbot,  34 
Samuel,  Sir  Herbert,  86,  106 
Saphir,  103 
Sara,  Josce  son  of,  23 
Sarah  of  Antwerp,  57 


INDEX 


121 


Saeportas,  Jacob,  Haham,  75 
Scaccarium  Aaronis,  9,  10 
Scaliger,  Joseph,  62 
Schechter,  Mr.  Frank,  43 
Schiff,     David     Tenele,     Chief 

Rabbi,  81,  83,  87 
Schor,  Rev.  S.,  103 
Sciallitti,  R.  Moses  [Paul],  73, 

74 
Scott,  Sir  Walter,  19,  20,  62,  111 
Scroll  oj  the  Law,  32,  33 
Sephadim,  75,  79,  80,  88,  89 
Shakespeare,  William,  7 
Shechila,  80,  81 
Shetaroth,  M.  D.  Davies,  25,  29, 

30 
Shyloclc,  Shakespeare's,  7 
Siddur,  33,  34 
Sidney,  Sir  PhiUp,  68 
Silva,  Joshua  da,  Haham,  75 
Silvester,  J.  J.,  Prof.,  8G 
Simeon,  Rev.  Charles,  100 
Simon  de  Montfort,  44 
Skelton,  Oxonia  Antiqua,  37 
Smith,  Prof.  Goldwin,  43 
Solomon,  R.,  the  Physician,  13, 

24 
Solomon  of  Gloucester,  22 
Solomon,  or  Mordecai,  or  Dieu- 

lecresse,  of  Norwich,  24 
South  Sea  Bubble,  78 
Southampton,  17,  21 
Spain,  35,  57,  58,  75,  90,  91 
Stamford,  14,  55,  56 
Star  Chamber,  41 
Starrs,  14,  15,  22,  25,  29,  30 
Statute  de  la  Jeuerie,  8 
Statute  of  Judaism,  6,  7 
Stephen,  King,  4 
Stem,  Rev.  Dr.,  103 
Stone  Houses,  23 
Stowe's  Chronicles,  37 
Strangeljim,  Michael,  13,  14 
Stubbs,  Bishop  W.,  43 
Studies  in  Aiiglo- Jewish  History 

[Stokes],  12 
Sulhvan,  103 
Swaythling,  Lord,  86 
Synagogues,  17,  28,  57,  72,  74,  76, 

77,  79,  80,  87,  90-96 
Synagogue,  the  Great,  80,  83 


Tallages,  42 

Tallies,  15 

Talmud,  35 

Tichbome,  Roger,  10 

Tower  of  London,  21,  70 

Tovm  Life  [Green],  21 

Tovey,  Dr.,  25,  41,  67,  76,  79,  96, 

110 
Tree  of  Life,  the,  33 
Tremellius,  John  Emmanuel,  67, 

68 

Uri  Phaibush,  Chief  Rabbi,  77, 

80 
Uzzielli,  103 

ViENNE,  Council  of,  60 

Violet,    Alderman  Thomas,    73, 

74 
Vives,  Aaron  son  of,  1 1 

Walsingham,  Sir  Francis,  62 

Wandering  Jew,  the,  60,  74,  111 

War,  the  Great,  87 

War,  South  African,  87 

Warwick,  16 

Way,  Rev.  Lewis,  100 

Wesley,  Rev.  Charles,  94 

West  London  Synagogue,  87,  89, 

90 
Westminster,  14,  29,  41,  73 
Westminster  Abbey,   4,   16,  31, 

36 
Whitehall  Conference,  69 
Whittington,  Sir  Richard,  66 
Wilberforce,  William,  100 
Wilham  I.,  3 
William  II.,  3 

William  III.  and  Maiy  II.,  76 
William  de  AjTemine,  Bishop  of 

Norwich,  60 
William  of  Norwich,  4 
Winchester,  18,  21,  23 
Windsor,  20 
Wolf,  Mr.  Lucien,  38,  64,  65,  58, 

91,  113 
Wolff,  Dr.,  103 
Wolfgang,  Jacob,  62 
Woodstock,  Henry  of,  61 
Worcester,  6 
Wriothesley,  the  olironicler,  57 


122 


Yechiel,  Josce,  31 
Yomtob,  R.  ben  Mosos,  29 
York,  4,  10,  10,  19,  20,  22,  23,  34, 

35,  110 
York,  Aaron  of,  Arch-Presbyler, 

11,  12,  16 


INDEX 

Ysaac,  Mcdicus,  13,  24 


Zangwili.,  Israel,  18,  82,  83,  90, 

105,  114 
Zenna,  daughter  of  Yomtob,  29 
Zionism,  104-106 


rRINIEO   BY  WULIAU  CLOWES   AND  SONS,  bIMIXED,  tOtiOOK  AMD   BGCCbEti 


urc;ni,THERNREM,VSm^Sffil 


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